Cuphead: Meddling with Magic
by TheLexTurtle
Summary: All Cassie wanted to do was be in animation school, never expecting that it would send her to the Inkwell Isles. She wields a magical pencil that the Devil desperately wants, but after gypping him out of a deal, she is forced to be on the run. Cassie decides to help Cuphead and Mugman save their souls, but if she is found, her life, and all of Inkwell Isle will be in danger.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey, guys! It's been a while since I actually sat down and began a FanFic. With my finals over, I have a LOT more time to just write. I really, really love this game. I only have a few more bosses to beat for "S" rank. I thought it would be fitting to create something about a franchise that I adore. I actually have most of this story thought out and parts of it written, it's just a matter of putting it altogether.**

 **This type of writing is new for me, as I've never made a FanFic where a character I create takes more of a prominent role. I'm always afraid they will appear to be very Mary-Sue. Haha. My characters usually are in the background in whatever I write, so I'm very interested to see how this story will turn out.**

 **Anyway, I hope you guys enjoy. I love feedback to improve my writing, so I implore you to R &R. Thanks!**

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"As you can see, the reason these characters from the early to mid thirties are coined 'rubber-hose' is due to their loose nature with their movements..."

Cassie rolled her eyes as the professor continued talking about the history of rubber-hose animation. She was excited to begin animating, as it had been her life-long dream for as long as she could remember. But was the course "A Brief History into Animation" really necessary? Based on the professor's immense detail of how the different characters moved, talked, and whatever else about rubber-hose, it was anything but brief. It was only week two into the course; Cassie already dreaded how the remaining thirteen weeks would pan out.

She tucked her caramel colored hair back behind her ear as she continued to jot down notes, but mostly doodling different Disney characters. It was the most enjoyment she was getting during the entire hour and a half long lecture.

She turned her gaze at the pencil in her hand. Cassie read the etching, "All of our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them. - Walt Disney." She placed her thumb over the quote, feeling the different grooves the lettering made into the pencil. It was a gift from her mom before she began animation school. She smiled and started to twiddle with the writing utensil between her fingers.

Cassie glanced at the clock and slightly smirked. Only five more minutes until freedom. This was her last class of the week. Less than three-hundred seconds until Netflix, wine, and more doodling.

"And now, class, I have an assignment for you."

The group of about twenty people collectively groaned. The professor just looked at everyone with a plastered smile on her face.

"I want you to research a certain character based on this style of animation-"

 _Oh, that's easy._ Cassie thought. _I'll just pick something that Disney did._

"-that is not Disney related."

Her eyes widened, as a few people groaned again.

"I want you to present the character of your choice for four minutes. You can use whatever medium you want, PowerPoint, poster, I don't care. This is due on Monday. Your presentations will be Monday as well. Have a good, productive weekend, everyone."

Cassie sighed and shut her eyes. _Welp. There goes my weekend._

She packed up her things and left the room, wondering how in the world she was going to pull off this dumb project. Once Cassie made it back to her apartment, she plopped down on the sofa and buried her face in the flower-printed pillow. After a moment, her face re-emerged, and she huffed.

Cassie glanced around the living room, if you would call it that. It was a small space that fit her sofa, a small table, and a TV stand with a small television. There was a sink and a dishwasher on one side - not even a full kitchen. She gazed at the pine green paint on the walls that had seen better days and had begun to chip off. She looked over to the tiny bedroom attached to the other side of the apartment. It was so small, you could stand in the middle and touch the opposite facing walls. Packing boxes littered the floor, as she was still trying to move in. The state of her apartment mixed with the stress of the project caused Cassie to become annoyed.

Antsy and not really in the mood to begin the assignment, Cassie figured she should start unpacking some more. After all, if she made it further into animation school, she would be living here for the next four years.

Cassie started pulling out various items from the boxes, cursing herself that she was not more organized packing this stuff up before leaving home. After half an hour, various articles of clothing, decorations, and household items surrounded her. She sighed and slumped into the sofa, feeling like she had not even made a dent with unpacking.

The sun came into the window just right, and made an entrance into one of the boxes, shining on one of the last items inside. A golden colored light beamed into Cassie's eyes, causing her to squint. Curious, she peered inside the box and found a familiar book. She anxiously reached inside and pulled it out.

The brown leather cover was worn and more old than she remembered it being. But, she figured, it was likely from the 1930s. The last time her mom read this to her was when she was probably six or seven, but she remembered the book being in better shape. She had only glanced at the book on her shelf at home from time to time, but had not taken the time to read it again. Cassie wiped off the bits dust stuck onto the cover and looked at the title, printed in gold lettering.

"Cuphead: Don't Deal with the Devil."

In the middle of the cover were the two cup brothers, outlined in the same gold that the lettering had. Cassie opened the book and smiled, surprised that even though the cover may have been worn, the contents inside were well kept. She glanced at the pictures and read the story one more time of how the two brothers went to the casino, bet their souls, fought the debtors, and eventually freed them from their servitude to the devil. It was a dark children's novel, but it was somewhat inspirational - how good conquers evil.

Cassie started beaming. This was going to be her project.

 _But it's not animation..._ Cassie began to doubtfully think, and her hopes dropped a little bit. Getting an idea, she poured herself a glass of wine, grabbed her laptop, went to the table, and began to do some research.

The topic of Cuphead was harder to find than she had originally thought. Cassie eventually stumbled onto a website that specialized in classic, hand-drawn animation. She found minuscule items about Cuphead, but they were there. Cassie clicked on one of the articles, and read quietly to herself.

"In 1929, Studio MDHR was formed. The company attempted to create a character that was similar to Mickey Mouse in hopes that it would gain popularity. In 1930, Cuphead was born and began to be known in different parts of North America. However, with the Great Depression taking its hold on small businesses, the studio vanished into obscurity not even five years later."

Cassie sat back in her chair, a little saddened by the information. She took another swing of her wine and continued to read.

"They are rare and few and far between, but there still exists small segments of animation," she smiled at that sentence, "where Cuphead and Mugman are fighting their foes, more specifically, the Devil. They also exist in a few short stories, the most well-known one being, 'Cuphead: Don't Deal with the Devil.'"

 _There are other stories? Huh. I'll have to look into that sometime._

Cassie scrolled to the end of the article, and to her surprise, the "segments" of animation were there. There were only two videos and they were only about thirty seconds long. The one video was of Cuphead and Mugman fighting the Devil, both cups wielding finger-guns. The other one was of King Dice, looking mischievous and sly, while chatting with the two main characters. Cassie's eyes were drawn to the lanky, loose figure of King Dice and she watched the video again.

She realized something. He was not a typical main character, but also not one that is simply in the background. He's unique in that way.

 _That's it. He's the character I'm going to present._

A sudden knock at the door snapped her out of her thoughts. Glancing at her phone, it was 10:30 P.M. Who would possibly be coming over at this time of night? The total of about three people Cassie considered to be friends were not exactly party people. Cassie cautiously moved to the door, still unsure of the relatively new environment she was living in. Shady people could be anywhere, and there was no peep-hole in the door to check who exactly was outside. She slowly opened the door, to find not a person, but a relatively small box on the floor of the hallway.

Cassie picked up the box. It was very, very light, and she questioned if anything was even in there. She looked to find a label of any kind to see who sent this to her, but... nothing. The box was blank on all sides. Glancing around her environment, she checked to make sure nobody was around. Cassie then swiftly moved back inside, and locked the door.

She walked back to the desk and gingerly placed the container on the surface, wondering what in the world was inside. Eager and nervous, she quickly opened the box to find a... pencil?

It was a dark blue with silver swirls and curls that you would only see if the light hit the writing utensil right. Playing with it between her fingers, it didn't feel like a normal pencil. It was smoother and softer, but still felt sturdy. Something etched near the eraser caught her eyes. She read the letters and felt her eyes go wide.

"To C.E.M."

Cassandra Elizabeth Martin.

Those were _her_ initials.

She dropped the pencil on the table in shock, and to her surprise, the tip did not break off. Tentative, Cassie decided to pick it up again, and had an idea, wanting to play around with this mysterious pencil. She used the book as a reference, and began to draw. When Cassie was done, she held up the paper, feeling satisfied. The drawing of King Dice looked almost identical to the one in the book.

 _Damn. If I was alive in the 1930s, the studio should have hired me._ Cassie thought. She walked to the couch and placed the paper in her backpack, not wanting to lose the drawing for her project in the clutter of her new apartment.

Cassie flipped through the book again, and looked at the two brothers. Their style was so simple, but still likable. She stared at Cuphead, her urge to draw still strong. Cassie wanted to have as much fun as she could with this dumb project.

"Ah. What the heck? I'll draw him for fun." she proclaimed out loud to nobody else in the room.

The drawing of Cuphead did not take nearly as long, as he was not as detailed as the King. She held the finished drawing, slightly smiled, and put it back onto the table.

Cassie pulled out her phone and glanced at the time. 11:26 P.M. She had worked on this project for longer than she thought. A yawn had made its way out of her mouth and she smacked her lips. With the mixture of staring at the laptop screen for a few hours and the buzzy feeling from the wine, Cassie was more tired than she thought she would be at this time of the night. She made her way back over to the couch, pulled up a blanket, and propped her head on the same flowery pillow as before.

 _A few minutes of shut-eye wouldn't hurt... Then I'll get back to work..._

"Cassie!" a small voice called out, but to no avail. She was still sound asleep. The only movement she made was flipping from her right side onto her back.

"CASSIE!" the voice cried louder. That jolted her awake. In a swift, ungraceful movement, she fell from the sofa onto the hardwood floor with a firm 'thud', limbs flailing and thrashing in the blanket surrounding her. She stood up, groaning and still half asleep, looking around for the person who called her name.

"Mom? Is that you?" she asked. Cassie glanced all around the apartment, confused. There was nobody anywhere - she was alone. Cassie looked at the time. It was 2:56 A.M. She sighed, exhaustion beginning to settle in. Convinced that she was probably dreaming, she sat back on the sofa and started to lie down again, her eyes getting heavy.

"No! Over here!"

 _What the hell?_

Cassie stood up, a touch more quickly this time, and slowly walked toward where she heard the voice coming from. She ended up at the desk - the only things there were her laptop and the drawing of Cuphead.

"Huh. That's strange," she pondered aloud. Cassie looked at her laptop, wondering if she possibly left any of the tabs open. That would have made the most sense, but nope. She closed all of them before she took her nap. She looked toward the ceiling, slightly puzzled.

"If it wasn't my computer making the noise, then what else could it be?" she asked herself, scratching her head. "The only thing left on the table is the drawing of Cuphead, and it would be absolutely absurd if-"

She looked down at the sketch, not even finishing her sentence.

"Heya, Cassie." the drawing of Cuphead replied, slightly waving his hand at her.

She had never screamed louder in her entire life.

 _"_ _Shhh. Shhhh,"_ the cup hissed, worriedly glancing around. She wouldn't stop screaming.

Suddenly, Cuphead leapt off the piece of paper, and slapped the girl across the face, finally shutting her up. The petrified look on her face was replaced with one of shock.

"Would you keep it down? Your screamin' makes it sound like you're gettin' murdered or somethin'."

Cuphead sat on the edge of the desk, and looked at the twenty-two year old. Cassie placed her hand on the cheek that was slapped. It stung for a moment, but mostly just startled her. She stared at him, mouth agape.

"So, I drew you, and you came to life? You're really just... hanging out here in my apartment?" Cassie asked slowly, trying to wrap her head around this bizarre situation.

"Yeah. Except I'm not the _real_ Cuphead."

 _What?! Okay. This just got waaay more confusing._

"W-what do you mean?"

"Only my creators drew the real me. Anyone else who draws me, I become a copy. It's the same with all the other characters. The real Cuphead has no idea that I even exist," the cartoon stated, gesturing to himself.

"But how? How is this even possible?"

"It's because of your pencil," the cup replied, pointing to said object on her desk.

"My... _pencil_?" Cassie picked up the writing utensil that laid so perfectly on the wooden surface. She looked at the initials again, questions appearing in her mind.

 _Where did this come from? Who even sent this to me?_

A light tapping on her forearm snapped her out of her thoughts. "What does C.E.M. stand for?" the cup boy asked.

Cassie looked at him, the thoughts that she was either drunk or dreaming beginning to disappear. He actually _tapped_ her. There was no way she would have been able to conjure up a crazy story like that, even if she was drunk or dreaming.

"They're my initials. Cassandra Elizabeth Martin is my full name."

"Huh. It's almost like the pencil was chosen for you."

"What?" Cassie questioned. This was starting to sound ridiculous.

"The pencil specifically has your initials on it, and it's probably unlikely that someone else in this building has the same exact initials. It's probably meant for you." the copy theorized.

Cassie immediately placed the pencil on her desk. "Hold up. I'm only here to do animation school. I don't want to get involved in any magic mumbo jumbo. I believe in this stuff in Disney movies, but not in real life. I'm out," she held up her arms, pushed herself away from the desk, and stood up.

The lights in the room flickered ever so slightly, making the girl jump. There was a faint rumble of thunder outside. The rain began to tap on the windows, almost begging to be let in.

"This apartment is old. That was probably just the bad lighting in here," she said to Cuphead, but mostly to herself.

"I-I don't know, Cassie," he replied. Her stomach began to twist with nerves. That had never happened before.

"Don't mind my question, but did you happen to draw anyone else with your new pencil?" Cuphead asked slowly.

"Yeah. I drew-" she suddenly stopped, her heart suddenly beginning to beat very fast.

"King Dice..."

Cassie scurried over to her backpack and pulled out the drawing paper from earlier. She gasped as she found that the paper was blank, as if nothing was ever on it. She looked back to the character on her desk, fear in both of their eyes as the rain continued to pound harder. If a copy of Cuphead was able to jump off the paper, that meant that a Dice duplicate was definitely somewhere in her apartment.

Knowing that the King, even just a copy she created of him, was the "Devil's right hand man," immediately made this experience more terrifying.

"Cuphead?" Cassie whispered like a scared little girl. She creeped over to the desk, and clenched the pencil. It wasn't much, but if it was magical, it could be used as defense. "I have a feeling that I'm in danger."

Cassie looked to the character, except he was no longer sitting there. Glancing down, she saw that he was back on the paper, just the way she drew him. The crack of lightning lit up the tiny living room, the thunder accompanying it stirring her fears.

The feeling of being completely alone was eating her up inside. She was confused, scared, and began to convince herself that she hallucinated the whole conversation.

Until she felt something very hard hit the back of her head.

Cassie fell to the floor, seeing many, many colorful stars. She gripped the pencil in her hand tightly as her head pounded. She squeezed her eyes shut, willing for the pain to stop. After a moment, she felt someone... or _something_ begin to attempt to pry the object out of her hand.

She suddenly heard a sizzling sound and a deep voice cry out in pain. Cassie looked up, vision still slightly fuzzy, to see a creature with a lanky man's body wearing a lavender colored suit... with a die for a head. She saw him grabbing his right wrist, and looked at the steam coming from the hand.

 _The pencil... He got burned from touching the pencil... It wouldn't let him take it!_

Cassie looked as the cartoon's right hand sprouted a flame and began to burn. The flames were slowly creeping up his arm. Cassie realized that since he was mostly made from paper, the fire was easily eating him away. Horrified at the scene unfolding, she began to stand up as fast as she could, and made her way toward the door.

"Where do you think _you're_ going, doll-face?" the copy of King Dice asked, and swiftly moved toward her.

Weak and still unsteady, she made her way toward the door. Cassie gripped the door handle, ready to turn it to leave-

But found herself ripped from the door and onto the floor.

Before she could process how quickly Dice maneuvered her body from an upright position to lying on the ground, he placed a foot in the middle of her chest, knocking the air out of her. For being a cartoon, he was much stronger than he appeared to be.

"Since I am unable to send the pencil to the boss without it burning me alive," King Dice explained, casually watching as the flickering flames devoured most of his right arm, "I guess I'll just have to send you with it there instead," he finished, his eyes glowing a wicked emerald.

Before Cassie could say a word, he grabbed the storybook laying on the arm of the couch with his remaining hand, and opened its crisp pages. The book was glowing- wait. It was _glowing_?! Dice held the book above her as it swiftly sucked her in, Cassie screaming the entire time. When she was gone, he hopped over to the desk, as the flames had consumed his entire right side, and placed the book on top. The King started to cackle, and only ceased to do so when he was nothing but a pile of ashes on the hardwood floor.

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 **And there we have it! Chapter One is done!**

 **FYI: the "history" of MDHR and Cuphead I made up. I played around with it to better fit in my story.**

 **I'm planing on having the next chapter up in a couple days. I'm my own worst critic, and I'll keep revising my chapters until I'm satisfied. Until next time!**

 **-TheLexTurtle**


	2. Chapter 2

**Heya, guys! Hope everyone's week has been good. Just a heads up, I used some dialogue that is in the actual game, since I wanted to stay kind of true to the source material. That's my only announcement. Be sure to R &R! Enjoy!**

 **I don't own Cuphead. I only own Cassie.**

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Cassie was somewhat calm. She had the sensation that she was floating, like she was laying on a pile of ten thousand feathers. Cassie slowly opened her eyes to find everything to be pitch black, almost as if the environment around her never had the chance to exist. She could not see herself, but Cassie felt... different.

It felt like the floor beneath her had opened up, swallowing her whole. With a yelp, Cassie fell from the darkness into a different area of reddish and orange hues. The floaty feeling was gone and replaced with one of pain and soreness as she hit the ground. She squeezed her eyelids shut, a possible really bad migraine coming on.

 _Ohhh... my head..._

Cassie squinted her eyes to see a cartoony environment. Thinking it was the lighting or the blow to her head distorting her vision, she opened her eyes further to find that she was wrong. Everything around her was in a cartoon style. She took in every detail of the room, seeing the pillars that stood tall, a golden flame surrounding the base of each one. Off to the sides appeared to be volcanoes spewing out lava and fire that would scorch anything to a crisp. In the center of the gigantic room stood a large chair. Cassie recognized this from the story. She gulped, realizing that this was the Devil's "palace."

She felt her fingernails dig into her palm from gripping the pencil way too hard. Slightly wincing in pain, she looked down at her hand, gasping. She had a very distinct black outline that was filled in with a peach-like color. Staring at her arms, they lacked any form of structure and wiggled loosely. Cassie had the signature four-fingers that all cartoon characters had, but lacked gloves.

Cassie stared at her reflection in the shiny marble flooring. Her sapphire irises changed into black pupils with slits in the middle. Her face was more round and lacked any kind of definition. Cassie ran a hand through her textureless hair, and exhaled slowly.

"I'm a cartoon character," she whispered aloud, then immediately clamped her mouth. Her voice gained a tinny, grainy sound, like it was recorded on vinyl.

"Well, well. What do we have here?" a slithery, sinister voice asked from behind. Her stomach twisted in knots as the turned to face none other than the demon who she did not want to run into.

Cassie backed up slowly, as the Devil blocked the only exit, creeping closer to her. She remembered how scared she was when her mom read the sections with the dark creature. Now, she was a twenty something, reliving her childhood fears head-on.

"Stay back! I'm warning you! Don't make me use this you... you FREAK!" she threatened, holding the pencil in front of her with her right hand. The demon immediately stopped, his look of wicked delight turning to one of confusion and shock.

"Where did you get that?" he asked.

The question threw her off guard. Cassie wasn't expecting him to ask her that, but he seemed to know exactly what the object was. She looked down at the pencil in her hand, and loosened her grip on it slightly.

She also wasn't expecting him to extend his arm and wrap it around her torso, lift her off the ground, and tighten his limb around her like a cobra when it has found its next meal. Cassie began to feel faint and saw that her vision began to darken. He... he was knocking her out!

"I will only ask you once more. _Where did you get that?"_

He loosened his arm enough to allow her to fall to the floor. Cassie dropped the pencil, sputtering and gasping for air, not paying attention to it as it rolled toward the demon. She looked up, panting and exhausted, and watched him grab the pencil-

Only for it to burn him as well.

The Devil hissed and threw the object toward the girl. She flinched as it landed right at her knees, the clatter it made on the floor echoed in the room. He glared at her, impatiently awaiting her answer. Cassie quickly gained her composure and stood up, knowing that if she did not answer him again, her life was likely at stake.

"I-it just arrived on my doorstep. I was working on a project when it arrived," she replied. The Devil snarled menacingly at her, as a pitchfork appeared in his hand.

"That's all I know! I swear! I don't even really know what this stupid thing is. All I know is that it's magical and my sketches come to life with it, which is really freaky," Cassie continued, picking up the pencil from the floor and putting her hands up in defense. She closed her eyes, slumped her arms, and sighed. "I don't even want this thing. I just want to go home..."

His ears pricked up at her last few sentences, as a sadistic grin appeared on his face. The demon approached the girl and placed a clawed hand on her shoulder, causing it to immediately tense.

"You want to go home, toots? Let's make a deal."

With a wave of his hand, parchment paper appeared out of thin air. He handed it to Cassie as she stared at the plethora of words, many of them too small to make out. She figured that was probably on purpose. The only words she could really see were her full name, right next to a dotted line.

"You can't get out of here without _my_ help. And out of the _kindness_ of my cold, black heart, I'm willing to assist," he added, wrapping his arm further around her shoulders. "On one condition."

"And what's that?" Cassie asked, looking up from the contract.

"Your hand over your pencil to **me** ," the Devil finished, a nefarious look in his yellow eyes.

She looked from his frightening gaze down to the object in her hand, knowing that if he had it, things... would probably not be good. "If I refuse?"

"Well then. I guess you'll be stuck down here. Forever. We'll have a _hell_ of a time, doll." the grip on her shoulders tightened as his claws dug into them. Cassie winced; there would probably be bruises there later.

"Do we have a deal?"

Cassie stared back at the contract, unsure of what to do. She swore she felt her hand shaking, but she wasn't sure if it was her appendage or the pencil. After a moment of debating her options, she held the pencil carefully in her hand, and was about to write on the parchment-

-When the Devil's second-in-command appeared from out of the floor.

"Boss. You have t' see this."

The demon shut his eyes and groaned. Cassie pulled the writing utensil away from the contract, and quickly tucked it away in her back pocket.

"Dice, what is so important for you to burst in here, and botch up this deal?" the Devil seethed, glaring at the tall cartoon.

"Two kids are playin' craps in the casino. They haven't lost a round yet," the die replied with a grin. His eyes were gleaming emerald. She gulped, immediately remembering the events that transpired in her apartment.

The Devil's grip loosened on Cassie' shoulders and he walked toward the manager. "We'll see about that," the demon chuckled, never one to miss an opportunity to steal the soul of a sucker. In that moment, she sucked in a small breath of air.

 _The two kids... they're Cuphead and Mugman!_

Too distracted in her thoughts, she was not prepared for the Devil to snap his fingers and for binds to appear around her wrists and ankles. Losing her balance, she toppled to the floor.

"I'll deal with _you_ , little lady, when I get back. We ain't finished yet," the demon growled. In a moment, him and Dice disappeared into the floor, showing no trace that their presence was ever in the room. Cassie was all alone again.

And for that, she was grateful. She quickly sprouted an idea and needed to move _fast_.

With her hands bound behind her back, she tried to search for the pencil in her back pocket by using her senses. After missing the first few times, she began to get frantic and attempted to grasp for it faster, until she finally got a hold of the utensil.

Feeling for the eraser, she held the pencil in both hands as she began to try to erase the binds enveloping her upper limbs.

 _If this doesn't work, I have no freaking idea what I'll do._

"NOW GET GOING!" she heard the Devil boom. Cassie knew at this point in the story, he kicked out Cuphead and Mugman, sending them on their way to get the soul contracts. She began to erase faster, fearful that he would be back any second.

Sweet relief filled her as the binds around her wrists broke off. It actually worked! Cassie quickly erased the binds off her ankles and stood up. She ran to one of the pillars and haphazardly drew a door onto its marble surface.

"GET HER! DON'T LET HER GET AWAY!"

Cassie turned quickly to see a barrage of purple demons coming after her, the Devil leading them. With a shriek of terror, she opened the door and slammed it shut behind her, thrusting her entire body on it, hoping and praying it would save her.

She could feel the pounding on the other side and hear an infuriated cry. Cassie began to panic as she felt the door pull the other direction, back toward the mayhem on the other side. The door cracked slightly, a demonic eye showing a cartoon girl being ripped in half.

"Your soul is **mine**!" he screeched. The Devil reached in the crack in the door and wrapped his hand around the girl's wrist, her hand still gripping onto the door handle. She cried out in pain, feeling him start to pull her back in.

" ** _NO!_** " she screamed. Cassie quickly pulled out her pencil with her free hand and stabbed the demon with it. The Devil yelled in pain and retracted his hand, as it had burned him once again. With all her might, Cassie pulled the door back shut. Holding the handle for dear life with her one hand, she quickly drew a lock on the door, and used the eraser to eliminate all evidence of her escape. The sounds of pounding and angry screaming began to disappear with each swipe of the eraser, until there was nothing left; the cartoon door and everything behind it completely vanished.

Cassie exhaled the breath she did not realize she was holding. Exhausted, terrified, and trying her best not to break down entirely, she placed her back on the wall and slid down to the floor, head on her knees, arms around her calves, quietly crying.

She gypped the Devil out of a deal. Now, he wanted her head. It wasn't just a cartoon anymore.

The battle was just beginning.

"Are you alright, my dear?" she heard a masculine, soothing voice ask. Cassie looked up to find not a man, but an old, wise looking teapot. He seemed like the days of his prime were behind him, but still had some light in his eyes.

 _Elder Kettle_.

She wiped her face, feeling the dampness on her cheeks. Cassie looked up at the kitchenware and he kindly gazed back, a gentle smile slightly showed from underneath his mustache. She relaxed a little - it was the first time anyone had shown her really any form of empathy since she got here. Cassie quickly looked away, taking her gaze to the room.

It was a quaint little house. She felt the warmth from the furnace beside her, hearing the flames crackle and pop. Cassie realized there was quiet music playing from a record player. She looked at the space in front of her, seeing a couple chairs facing each other, a table in-between them. She assumed she was likely in the living room. Cassie also heard the chiming of a grandfather clock from the next room, signaling it was three quarters of an hour.

She felt herself grin a little. It was a nice, comforting little space. But she began to think of the previous situation, fear filling her once again. She looked back to her knees.

"I-I don't really know. I'm just... tired. I shouldn't even be here. I'm sorry to have burst into your home."

Cassie stood up and started to make her way to the front door, but the kettle gently grabbed her wrist. She grimaced. It was the same wrist the Devil had snatched when she was trying to escape. Cassie turned back toward the elder, seeing him examine the damage.

"You were in with the Devil, weren't ya?" he asked, looking from her wrist to meet her eyes.

She stared back at him, her silence giving him the answer. Cassie quickly pulled her arm away and gazed at the blood that had started to mat on her toon skin.

"Toons don't bleed blood," Elder Kettle explained. "They bleed ink. But you... you're really a human, ain'tcha?"

Cassie eyed him again, but a hint of sadness was evident in his eyes. She looked down at her feet and sighed.

"Yeah."

Elder Kettle chuckled slightly to lift the mood of the atmosphere. "What's your name?"

"Uhh, Cassie," she stated, beginning to feel stupid that she didn't introduce herself earlier.

"Well Cassie, go wash out your wound and then come sit at the table. I don't remember seeing you around here. I always make tea for newcomers who come to visit me, whether they come through my front door or doors they have drawn to get into my house."

"Look, I'm really sorry. I didn't know that-" she started to explain, but the kettle cut her off.

"It's no trouble at all. All that matters is that things are hunky-dory."

Cassie looked at him blankly. After she just appeared into his house and could have possibly let all of Hell into his living room, he was being so kind to her. She placed her pencil on the table, and went into the next room to clean her wrist.

When she came back, to her surprise, the kettle was holding the pencil.

And it wasn't burning him.

"This is yours?" he asked, handing it back to her.

"Y-yes. I just got it. It's what brought me here," she explained.

"I haven't seen one of those in years."

"You know about this?" Cassie asked, holding up the pencil.

Elder Kettle sighed. "Come with me."

She followed the kettle into the next room, seeing him pull out a key and use it on a locked drawer of a desk. Cassie heard the "click" of the drawer being unlocked, almost like it hadn't been opened in years. She looked over his shoulder to see a pencil, almost identical to hers, except it had the initials E.K. on his.

"I don't understand," she admitted.

Elder Kettle chuckled. "You have a lot to learn, Cassie."

He held up the object in-between his fore and middle fingers. "The reason I was able to hold your pencil is because I have one similar to yours. You can hold onto mine, if you'd like."

Cassie stared as he handed his pencil over to her. She slowly reached for it, and curled her fingers around its surface. It felt exactly like hers. She drew a butterfly shape in the air, watching as it began to flutter its wings and fly toward the window.

"Have there been any others that came through here with pencils like ours?" Cassie asked.

"Two others, actually. But that was decades ago."

"What happened to them?"

"One gave me the ownership of the pencil that is right in your hand and went back to his world, well, I guess it's your world, too. I've been keeping it here secretly ever since. I'm only intending to use it in extreme circumstances. Thankfully, no such thing has happened yet."

"And the other one?" Cassie inquired. Elder Kettle looked at her grimly.

"It didn't end well," he stated in a sullen tone. She deduced that the Devil likely got to him or her. Cassie shuddered and suddenly felt uncomfortable, not wanting to think about that.

But then she pondered... one of them _was_ able to go back home. Was it possible for _her,_ too?

She handed the pencil back to him, watching him place it back in he drawer, and locking it once more. Cassie understood that it was so important that it be keep hidden, but she couldn't help but wonder how many more years it would be until it saw the light of day again. The two began to make their way back toward the table in the other room.

"That's why the Devil was after you, wasn't it, Cassie?"

The question snapped her out of her thoughts, and she meekly looked down, like a little kid who had just been caught stealing a cookie after the parent told them they couldn't have one. "I _almost_ made a deal with him. But I escaped, and that's how I ended up randomly in your living room. Not quite sure why it brought me here, but I'm sorta glad it did. At least I'm not back with the furry demon and his pal, Blockhead," she stated, glancing up at the kettle.

It was nice to confide in someone, even if that someone was a total stranger, who is considered an inanimate object back in her world.

Elder Kettle looked at her, very surprised, as he sat down at the table. "You... got out of a deal with the Devil? That was incredibly brave."

Cassie smiled at him.

"But, my dear, he will do everything in his power to make sure he finds you. Since you backed out of a deal, I don't even think he'll spare your life if you're caught."

The smile immediately dissipated. "Can't I stay here with you?"

"No. He will _definitely_ find you here. This is probably one of the first places he'll look, if he hasn't already. He has eyes everywhere, especially with that 'King' Dice spying on everyone," the elder shuddered. "Inkwell Isle is too small for you to hide in one place. You have to keep moving."

"ELDER KETTLE!" a high pitched voice screeched. Both cartoons whipped their heads toward the front door. It was very familiar to Cassie.

 _Cuphead!_

Two figures with cups for heads burst into the home, running toward the elder. Both were frantic and huffing, out of breath.

"We didn't mean to and we're sorry but we went where we weren't supposed to go and something bad happened and-"

"Woah! Slow down, Mugman," Elder Kettle said, placing a hand on the trembling boy's shoulder, kneeling down to their level. "Whatever happened, we can fix. Now, tell me about everything as calmly as you can."

Neither of the boys began spilling the details right away. Cassie didn't blame them. She was pretty hesitant about talking to Elder Kettle about her experience with the Devil as well.

Mugman was the first to break down.

"Cuphead gambled our souls away!" Mugman accused, pointing a finger at his older brother.

"I didn't mean to! I swear, Elder Kettle! I was promised the whole casino if I won! Wouldn't you take up a chance like that?"

Elder Kettle sighed and pinched two fingers between the bridge of his nose.

"What did I tell you boys about the Devil's Casino?"

"That it is bad for us kids, the Devil is an evil monster, and we should never ever go there," they replied simultaneously, his warnings echoing in their mind.

"But we still have hope!" Cuphead exclaimed, while Mugman groaned. "We just need to collect all the souls of the Devil's runaway debtors! Then he may... give us our souls... back?" the older cup finished, slowing down his last sentence as his guardian continued to glare at him.

Eventually, the kettle loosened up, and remembered what it was like to be young and make silly mistakes.

"This is a fine pickle you boys have gotten yourselves into. I know you don't want to be pawns of the Devil, but if you refuse... I can't bear to imagine your fates." Elder Kettle choked out the last sentence. Cuphead and Mugman looked at each other nervously.

"You must play along for now, collect those contracts," he continued. "and you'd best be ready for some nasty business. Your debtor 'friends' won't be very friendly once you confront them. In fact, I expect they'll transform into terrible beasts!"

"W-what can we do, Elder Kettle?" Mugman asked. "We're just two tiny cups compared to everyone else!"

Elder Kettle opened his lid, and a bottle came popping out. He held out his hand as the container came falling into his palm.

"Take this potion so they won't hang you out to dry. It will give you the most remarkable magical abilities!"

Cassie watched as the brothers took turns sipping out of the bottle with the mysterious blue liquid inside. After drinking it, they both jumped up in the air with a sudden burst of energy, and landed with their feet on the ground, removing their heads like a person would remove a hat. Cassie just stared with her mouth agape.

 _How long has that been in his head?! What IS that potion?! And how did the brothers... you know what? I'm not even going to ask. Cass, just accept that this is a cartoon._

"Who is that, Elder Kettle?" Mugman asked, pointing to Cassie. The girl shyly stood up, unsure of whether or not she should introduce herself. The kettle turned to her, suddenly getting an idea.

"Our new friend, Cassie."

The younger brother briskly walked toward the new toon, his older brother following slowly behind him.

"Hello, I'm Mugman, and this is my brother, Cuphead," the mug introduced cheerfully, gesturing to himself and his brother. He held out his hand proudly, and Cassie slowly accepted it to shake it.

She turned to Cuphead, but the older brother just watched her warily. "Nice to meet you," he spat out, but she could tell he didn't mean it.

"She'll be going with you two," Elder Kettle stated.

Cuphead scoffed. "C'mon, Elder Kettle! We don't need a _babysitter."_

"Ya probably do, since you deliberately disobeyed me," Elder Kettle contraindicated. Cuphead shut his mouth and clasped his hands in front of him.

"M-me? What?" she questioned, pointing to herself. "I can't even fight! I'm the weakest person I know! A-and the Devil-"

"Won't necessarily suspect you're with Cuphead and Mugman. He may think you will be hiding in one spot," Elder Kettle interrupted, tone hushed. "These boys will be hopping all over the islands, thanks to the hubbub they got themselves into," he finished, looking at them. They were staring at their feet just as Cassie did earlier.

"Besides, you have that pencil. You protected yourself from the Devil mere moments ago. You can defend yourself and the boys from some irritated debtors."

Cassie looked at the pencil in her hand, as the elder grabbed her arm once more.

"Go with them. Help them. _Please_. They need all the help they can get," he whispered.

She could hear the plea in his voice. Cassie looked at Elder Kettle, then to the boys. She _really_ did not want to. All Cassie wanted to do was hide anywhere and hope for a way back to her apartment without getting caught by the Devil. Cassie felt selfish, but she really only wanted to look out for herself in this dog-eat-dog, well, Devil-gets-her-soul-and-pencil-or-else world. However, she could tell that even though the cup brothers were mischievous and likely got themselves into quite a bit of trouble, they were like his sons.

They were _his_ family. She respected that.

Cassie exhaled, feeling as ready as she would ever be. The toon nodded and gripped her pencil tighter.

"Okay. I will."

* * *

 **And that's it for Chapter 2! Thank you so much for your feedback! It is much appreciated. I will have Chapter 3 out soon! Until next time!**

 **-TheLexTurtle**


	3. Chapter 3

**Hey, guys! Funny story... I actually had Chapters 3 and 4 mostly finished even before I posted the last one. But, I wasn't entirely happy with how I wrote them, so I started them almost completely over. Even though it took a little longer than I wanted, I'm really glad I ended up revising, because I like how everything turned out a little better. So, without further ado, here's the next Chapter!**

* * *

Cassie began packing a few items Elder Kettle willingly gave in a worn looking bag also lent by him. She stored away a few apples, an old compass, and a map of the Inkwell Isles. Cassie felt for the pencil in her back pocket, searching for it as a form of reassurance. She glanced over to the two cups, watching them pack up their own bags dejectedly. She pitied them a little. Two young boys off to collect soul contracts of some pretty intimidating foes. It was a lot for two kids, at least, she guessed they were kids, maybe early teens. It was hard to determine how old cups were.

Cassie looked away as Cuphead, Mugman, and Elder Kettle shared an embrace. She suddenly missed her mom dearly. Did her mom even know she was gone? Did anyone, really? Cassie wasn't too sure. This was one of the rare instances where she wished she didn't keep to herself so much.

 _Someone must know I'm missing. Right?_

The three kitchen appliances released themselves from their embrace. Cuphead and Mugman glanced up at Elder Kettle, tears brimming their eyes.

"If you need anything, you know where to find me," the elder stated. The brothers nodded their heads.

"We should get going, guys. We only have until midnight," Cassie stated.

Mugman nodded at her affirmatively while Cuphead showed no expression towards her. The cups walked out of the door, with Cassie following behind.

"Cassie, wait."

Elder Kettle's request caused the girl to turn around. He glanced at the door, making sure the boys were outside for good, and went into the back room that they were in earlier. Curious, Cassie followed behind him. He unlocked the top drawer once more and pulled out his pencil. In the air, he drew a key. It was slightly more gold and shiny than the one he used before. At the top of the object, he drew a long chain that attached through one of its loops. The kettle held it out to her like it was a gift.

"In case you ever need my pencil, it will be right in the top locked drawer."

Her eyes grew wide. "Elder Kettle, I can't take it. It's yours."

"But if the Devil finds either pencil, they're _his_. Like I said, you'll be moving around. You won't be in one place for long for him to find you. It would be better if _you_ had access to it," he whispered, cautiously looking around, seeming to be wary that the walls had ears.

Cassie looked at him, shocked. He _trusted_ her. He actually trusted her with something that was pretty damn powerful. She reached out and gripped the key, feeling it make an imprint in the palm of her hand. Cassie put the chain over her head and hid the key underneath her shirt.

"I won't let you down. I promise," she replied.

"You'll do the right thing. I know you will."

Not one really for hugging, Cassie held out her hand for a shake. Elder Kettle smiled at her, and returned the gesture.

"You're the first and probably last kettle I'll ever have the pleasure of meeting."

He let out a hearty laugh, despite the seriousness of the situation. "Good luck, Cassie. I hope you find a way home."

She smiled at him one last time before making her way out the door. As soon as she stepped outside, the warm environment from inside the happy home turned into one of instant dread. Cassie sucked in a deep breath and began to follow the boys, who had already begun to make the trek away from the house.

It was going to be a long day.

Never having been outside in the Isles before, Cassie didn't consider the immense amount of _green_ there was. It was almost disorienting. Wanting to look at something else, she glanced up at the blue sky and stared at the puffy clouds that gradually floated around. Cassie remembered how she used to look for shapes and make up stories for them. She smiled at the fond memory, then realized how much she was dawdling. The boys were on a bridge, talking to an apple sitting on one of the posts. She walked a little briskly to catch up to them.

"Hey, fellas! Looks like you're in for it now, eh?" The piece of fruit replied. Cassie instantly felt a little weird packing apples for food.

"Heh. You have no idea," Mugman replied, looking at his older brother. Cuphead shrugged slightly.

"Well, I used to be the same way, always gettin' into trouble. Runnin', jumpin', shootin'... But now I prefer just strollin' around and going to the pictures!" the apple rambled. Cuphead, feeling slightly agitated, entered the conversation.

"I'm really sorry, but we are on a bit of a time crunch. We can't really stay and chat," he explained, a little impatiently. The apple nodded.

"Of course. But hey, let me give you a hand! Take this!"

The red fruit handed them both three coins. That was enough to buy something, they hoped. The boys both replied with a "thank you," and the apple glanced up to Cassie, frowning.

"Sorry, lady, but I only have enough for the cup and mug."

She smiled back at him. "It's really no big deal. I'll manage."

The trio made the relatively short distance to a little shabby cart. At the top was the word "SHOP" written in faded brown paint. The wheels looked like they were rotting away, and the wooden stairs leading inside seemed as though they would break under any sort of weight. Cassie gulped. This place seemed a little _too_ shady. Cuphead and Mugman began walking up the creaky steps, turning to face girl who was still on the ground.

"Are ya comin' up or what, slowpoke?" Cuphead asked.

"I don't have any money. I'll just stay out here," she stated, hiding the fact that she really didn't want to see the interior.

"Suit yourself," the cup replied, following his brother into the store.

Cassie walked behind the cart, and looked down at the water that surrounded the edge of the land. She looked down at the ripples that formed, and for a split second, forgot that she was a cartoon. Cassie sighed as the water began to calm, seeing her reflection more clearly. She placed a hand to her cheek, and secretly wished she could go back to that moment where everything seemed normal. Back to how everything was before.

Cassie was afraid that her "normal" would never be the same.

"Where did Cassie go?" she heard Mugman ask. Her ears perked up at her name. They must have finished getting supplies.

Cassie began to walk out from behind the cart, then stopped when she heard Cuphead speak.

"Maybe she left. We're probably better off without her. She'll only slow us down."

Slightly hurt, Cassie went behind the cart again, pressed her back on the wooden surface, and huffed.

 _What did I ever do to him?! I haven't even known him an hour!_

"I don't think she left in the three minutes we were in there. I'm sure she's somewhere around here," she heard Mugman reply.

 _Well, at least one of them doesn't mind me..._

Cassie emerged from her hiding spot and looked at the brothers with a smile, acting like she didn't hear a thing.

"I was just looking at the view. What did you end up getting?"

Mugman held out what looked like a canister one would find in an attic. "It's a smoke bomb. It'll help us dash without getting hurt. Cuphead got one too."

"That seems pretty convenient," Cassie stated, trying to understand how exactly an old, trashy can would help prevent injuries. "What's the game plan now?"

"Well, we were thinking that we should go see the Root Pack first, then probably Ribby and Croaks. After that, either Goopy or Hilda," Cuphead suggested.

 _The Root Pack, huh? I remember them. Giant veggies shouldn't be too hard to take down._

Cassie pulled out the map from her bag, unfolded the tattered, worn piece of paper, and took a glance at it. "It looks like they're south of here. Not even that far away."

Cuphead scoffed. "You're _obviously_ a newbie. That map is old. The walk is about fifteen minutes. It's much farther than it looks."

Cassie rolled her eyes, already annoyed with the cup. Mugman glared at his brother, then turned his gaze to Cassie as the three began to move again.

"So, since you are a newbie, where are you from?" Mugman asked, trying to create some friendly conversation.

"Well, I'm originally from Maryland, but moved to California for school about a month ago."

Mugman looked very confused and scratched the rim of his head. "I have no idea where those places are."

Cassie chuckled. "That's alright. They're a looong way away from here."

"Do you miss your home?"

The same cold, sad feeling Cassie had before reappeared. "Yeah. I do."

She uncomfortably shifted. A lot had happened since she got to the Isles. Not really wanting to dwell on the past few hours, she changed the topic of conversation.

"So, why did you guys go to the casino? Where I'm from, it's illegal for kids to gamble."

"It looked pretty fun on the outside, but on the inside..." Mugman shuddered. "It's not very fun. The Devil is pretty scary."

"Look, I don't really want to talk about it, okay?" Cuphead interrupted. "Besides, you don't even want to know about how terrifying the Devil really is."

 _Elder Kettle didn't tell them about me..._

Cassie shrunk back, not wanting to share her experience with the demon, but also realizing this was a questionable territory of conversation. She sensed irritation radiate from the cup and decided against probing further.

The remainder of the walk was done in complete silence.

After what felt like an eternity, they reached the fence of the Root Pack. They all tentatively stayed outside the parameters of the property, knowing if they went in, there would be no turning back. The trio looked inside to see a carrot, potato, and onion, tending to their crops. Cuphead's irritation suddenly turned into guilt.

"So, how are we going to get their... you know," Mugman stated, not wanting to say "souls," in case the veggies in question were in earshot.

"We could say that their contracts are overdue, the Devil needs them... and say please?" Cuphead offered.

"Oh yeah. With that 'please' at the end, I'm sure this will end _swimmingly_ ," Cassie sarcastically retorted.

"Well, unless if you have any _better_ ideas, what would you suggest, _missy_?" he snipped, purposefully pushing her buttons. Cuphead watched her expression morph from annoyance to slight anger.

"Guys. We don't have time for bickering. We only have the rest of today and tomorrow to save our souls. We can't spend it fighting with each other. We'll be fighting others enough," Mugman replied.

Cassie sighed and closed her eyes. "You're right, Mugman. I'm sorry."

She opened her eyes to see a mixture of fear and sadness in the brothers' faces. Cuphead huffed, gripped the wooden gate, and slowly opened it, slightly wincing at the creaking noise it made.

"Are you guys ready?" he asked.

"I guess," Mugman replied, following his sibling into the arena. Cassie exhaled.

 _Let's get this over with..._

The trio began to walk into the garden, wincing at the sound of vegetables crunching beneath their feet. There was no way to avoid them, as they were entirely surrounded by the foods growing in the soil. Cassie felt her stomach twist as they approached the giant carrot. Who knew giant vegetables would seem to be so intimidating?

The carrot looked away from the produce to see them approach. He smiled. "Cuphead! Mugman! Long time no see!"

"How are you guys doing, Psycarrot?" Mugman asked, a forced smile plastered on his face.

"We couldn't be happier. Our crop is thriving better than ever," he started, then glancing at the new member of the group. "Now, who is this? I don't believe we've met."

"We haven't. I'm Cassie," she stated. The carrot and girl politely shook hands.

 _And I thought shaking hands with a kettle was weird._

"Well, any friend of Cuphead and Mugman's is a pal of mine. Now, what can I do for you lads and lady?"

The group of three fidgeted, at a loss of what to say. Finally, Cuphead looked up at the carrot once more.

"We're really, really sorry. But... we're here to... collect your soul contracts."

Cuphead pulled out a notice from his bag and handed it to the carrot. The trio could see his eyes darting in disbelief, every word sinking in. Psycarrot gripped the edges of the parchment.

"Cuphead... you didn't," Psycarrot said, denial in his tone. Moe Tato and Weepy were closely listening to the conversation. "You didn't deal with the Devil..."

"We did," Mugman stated, stepping forward. "We can only save our souls if we get all the contracts."

He looked at them, dejection evident in his eyes. "Well, I guess there's only one way to settle this," his look of sadness turned into one of determination. "We _fight_ for it. Root Pack! Get ready for a swell battle!"

 _Ah shit_.

The veggies immediately descended into the ground, the group above feeling a rumbling beneath their feet that only grew stronger. Cassie fell to the ground, placing her palms in the dirt to steady herself, and watched as Moe Tato tore up the earth, suddenly appearing. He started shooting large, spherical mounds of dirt toward the group. Cassie quickly stood up, and started jumping over the clumps alongside Cuphead and Mugman. She started mentally thanking her mom for forcing her to do track and field the last two years of her high school career.

These were just like the hurdles. Except more deadly.

When the potato took a break, she glanced over to see how the brothers were doing, and saw them wielding their finger guns. Out of their index fingers shot a blue beam of light. It appeared to be doing quite a bit of damage to the root. After a few more rounds of jumping and firing, the potato squeezed its face in pain and descended back into the ground.

"Well. That was intense," Mugman stated.

The middle of the field bulged upward, resisted, and eventually gave way as the onion burst from the ground. He glanced around to the three intruders, quivered his lip, and began to bawl his eyes out.

"It's not done yet!" Cuphead shouted.

"Ow!" Cassie yelped, as a raindrop landed very hard on her head. It felt like one of her giant textbooks came crashing down on her skull. She looked up to the sky and her eyes widened, realizing they needed to dodge the raindrops.

But then she had a better idea.

As the boys were firing at the onion while avoiding getting hurt by tears, Cassie speedily drew three umbrellas out of thin air. They weren't the best drawings she had ever done, but hopefully they would work.

"Guys! Catch!" she shouted, and threw two of the umbrellas toward the brothers. They caught the objects and all three of them immediately opened the umbrellas up, shielding them from the attack.

Cassie smiled as she heard the pitter pat of the tears on the umbrella. The drawings were once again in her favor.

The onion could take no more of the firing, squished his face, almost like the potato did earlier, and disappeared into the earth. Finally, the carrot emerged from beneath the soil, a little farther back than the other two, and began using his interesting mind powers.

Many carrots began to pop from the soil and attack the cups and girl. Cuphead and Mugman fired at the beta-carotene foods, easily destroying them. However, since Cassie didn't have a weapon like the brothers, she soon had a barrage of carrots following her around.

Thinking of really nothing else to draw, Cassie scribbled a mallet very unevenly, as she had to continue running around the garden. When she was finished, Cassie gripped the handle of her drawing, turned around, and began to crush the food that was trailing her, pounding each carrot into at least a hundred orange pieces.

Cuphead and Mugman looked over at the girl, wondering where in the heck these objects were coming from.

The carrot momentarily stopped attacking, which caused Cassie to look toward its direction. The veggie appeared to be very concentrated and had a... third eye?! She glanced to where the eye was looking.

It was at Cuphead, who was still staring at her, with a puzzled look on his face.

 _He's not paying attention to the mutant carrot! The veggie is going to attack again!_

"MOVE!" Cassie screamed, running toward the cup and pushing him out of the way of the golden-colored rings. Cuphead fell to the ground and looked back up at the girl, out of breath. Cassie looked up and saw the carrot fire three rings in her general direction. She avoided the attack by quickly jumping backward, feeling the scorching heat radiate from the hoops.

She made a mental note that getting hit by one of those was likely very, very bad.

Mugman gathered the same thought, and jumped out of the way when the rings fired at him.

The battle continued. Occasionally a scrape would happen here or there, but the three eventually got the hang of the carrot's attacks. Psycarrot became weaker and weaker until all source of magic drained from him, leaving him powerless. He pulled at his leaves on the top of his head, as he began to shrink.

The group looked down at the ground at the vegetable that was once so big and powerful...

To see him no bigger than any other carrot.

"Alrighty, boys. Give 'em what they need," he ordered dejectedly. From the ground appeared a now normal sized potato and onion, looking very sorrowful. The three of them handed their contracts to Cuphead, who proceeded to place them in his bag.

"Why are you small? You were so big literally a second ago," Cassie asked.

"Don't you get it?" Moe Tato said. "That's why we made a deal with the Devil. We wanted to be big to protect our garden."

"But since we were overdue with our soul contracts, what we wanted was taken away," Psycarrot added.

"And now we... we don't have our souls _and_ we're small again!" Weepy shrieked, while bawling once more. His two other companions embraced him, comforting him, but also comforting themselves.

"C'mon, guys. Let's go," Cuphead said, him and his brother walking away, leaving Cassie to look at the suddenly depressing scene.

"I... I'm so sorry," Cassie said.

"Just go, okay? You've done enough already," the carrot spat, and turned back to his disconsolate friends.

Cassie sighed sadly and turned her head, seeing the brothers waiting for her at the gate, dejection appeared on their faces. Instead of celebrating, the result of the fight turned the mood into a melancholic one. These are, or _were_ , Cuphead and Mugman's friends. Now, their lives were ruined. She looked at the vegetables once more.

"We'll save you. I promise."

Cassie faced the gate and began walking toward the boys. The three walked away from the gloomy first battle, knowing there would be many more to come.

However, none of them noticed the figure watching their every move from behind a lonely tree. With a soft chuckle, the toon descended into the ground, hiding itself from the rest of the world.

* * *

"So, how did you do that?" Mugman asked after a few moments, looking at Cassie. The walk of silence was killing all of them a little bit.

"How did I do what?"

"You know. You suddenly had objects that you did _not_ have before. Where did they come from?"

"Oh. Well, I have this pencil," Cassie started, pulling it out and showing it to them. "Whatever I draw seems to pop off the paper, or come out of thin air."

"Can you draw living things?" Cuphead asked, slightly interested in the conversation.

Her mind flashed to the apartment again, staring back into the menacing eyes of King Dice as he pinned her to the floor.

She shuddered, putting the pencil in her back pocket. "I try not to."

Cassie's stomach began to growl slightly. As if it was almost infectious, Cuphead and Mugman's did the same.

"Why don't we take a break?" Mugman suggested. "We still have most of the day and the Root Pack didn't take very long."

"I think that's a good idea," Cuphead stated, smiling at his brother.

The trio sat down in the grass, feeling the leafy blades bend beneath them and the wind brush against their faces. Cassie grabbed her bag and pulled out three apples.

"You guys are probably hungry. I know I am," she said empathetically, and handed the fruit toward them. The brothers grabbed for two of the apples and ate them happily.

Cassie played with the apple in her hand, almost confounded. It felt basically like the normal ones back in her world, but lacked any form of texture or shine. It was just... a drawing. The fact that it wasn't "real" food made her lose her appetite, and she began to toss the fruit a little in the air.

"I think I'm going to go wander for a little bit and clear my head. We're not often down this way. Do you guys want to join me?" Mugman asked.

"We will in a few. I need to talk to Cassie for a minute," his brother replied.

Mugman nodded, stood up, and began walking around, enjoying the scenery around him. Cassie heard the cup near her sigh, and faced him.

"Look, you fought okay-ish back at the Root Pack," Cuphead stated. Cassie laughed.

"You really know how to make someone feel good."

"No, no. What I mean is... I underestimated you. I was suspicious of you at first because you were new. But, you did fight okay. And Mugman seems to have taken a shine to you. I trust my little brother's judgement. You seem good," Cuphead explained, watching his little brother run after a butterfly.

She smiled at him. "I'm glad you feel that way. You don't seem too bad either, Cupface."

He chuckled. "And... thank you."

She looked at him questionably. "For what?"

"For pushing me out of the way back there. You saved me from some pretty nasty damage," he stated with a smile.

"Hey. That's what friends are for, right? Getting each other out of the way of deadly attacks?" she joked.

Cuphead began to laugh, but his grin quickly turned into a frown. "I... said that you would only slow us down back at Porkrind's. I'm sorry about that. I'm just goin' through a lot, ya know?"

Cassie instantly felt pretty bad, remembering what was at stake for the cup and mug. "I guess we were both pretty hurtful, huh? I'm sorry too."

She took a deep breath before continuing.

"You should probably know that I almost made a deal with the Devil."

"You almost did? When?" Cuphead asked, shocked.

"Just before I met you. It was actually really frightening. I escaped before I could say yes or no to him. Now, he wants my head, and I have to keep running."

"That's why you're tagging along with us. To keep moving," he deduced.

Cassie stared at the grass that she clumped in her hand and nodded. "You're a smart kid." She released the blades and watched them cascade to the ground.

"He wanted my pencil in exchange for me going home. For just a moment, I was so focused on getting back to my world that... I didn't really consider what would happen if I did take the deal," Cassie explained, becoming quiet for a moment before continuing.

"I guess my point is that we all make silly choices and have some stupid thoughts. Don't beat yourself up too much over your situation. We'll get through it."

An awkward silence managed to squeeze its way into the conversation. After a moment, Cuphead looked back to her.

"So... are we _friends_ now?" he asked.

"I guess so. Either way, you're stuck with me for the next few hours, so if you don't like me, tough luck."

The two shared a laugh and stood up, gathered their belongings, and made their way over toward Mugman. The younger brother looked over at them and smiled, grateful for the happier mood his sibling and new friend were displaying.

"Does this mean you two are no longer arguing?" Mugman asked.

"Yeah. I'm pretty sure this does," Cuphead stated. "So, are we ready to face off with Ribby and Croaks?"

"I think so," Mugman stated.

"As ready as I'll ever be," Cassie replied.

For the first time, the trio exchanged a smile with one another. With clear consciences, they began the walk toward the boat at the edge of the Isle.

* * *

 **And there's Chapter 3! I have Chapter 4 somewhat finished, so hopefully that will be up pretty soon. Thanks so very much for all the feedback! Until next time, everyone!**

 **-TheLexTurtle**


	4. Chapter 4

**Did you guys hear about the Cuphead DLC coming out next year? Ahh! I'm super pumped! I already can't wait to play it. And Ms. Chailce is a playable character?! That makes it even more exciting!**

 **But, that's enough fan-girling from me. Enjoy the Chapter!**

* * *

"So, how old are you guys anyway?" Cassie asked, following the boys toward the rather large boat.

"We're twelve. We'll be thirteen in a few months," Mugman replied.

 _Huh. Interesting that they're "twelve," since they're technically in their eighties._

"Which of you is older?"

"I am!" Cuphead proudly proclaimed.

"By only five minutes," Mugman muttered. Cassie chuckled. Since she was an only child, she didn't experience interesting arguments like this.

"How old are you, Cassie?" Cuphead asked.

"Twenty-two."

"Wow. You're old. Your new name should be grandma," he replied with a smirk. The trio began to giggle, their steps getting closer to the ship.

Drunken laughter and the sound of an out of tune piano managed to seep its way from the boat to the outside. Above the entrance to the boat was a tired, old looking sign labeled "The Clip Joint." Cassie thought this environment looked pretty seedy. They watched a fly stumble out of the watercraft, a suspicious paper bag in its left hand. It hiccuped as it came down the ramp, drinking from the obvious bottle from inside the bag. The fly tripped over his own feet and ran into Cassie, causing her to stumble backward. Annoyed, she helped the fly upright and watched him attempt to keep his eyelids open.

"Sorry, milady," the insect slurred and tried to walk again. Instead, the fly tripped once more and fell face first into the ground. The group looked at each other as the drunk fly began to snore.

"Isn't it the middle of the day? Why are people... I mean, toons, this drunk already?" Cassie asked, still not quite used to them not being people.

"There's probably a show," Mugman replied. "This place is usually hoppin' when there's some entertainment."

Cassie inferred that "entertainment" probably didn't mean a play. Everyone was probably too wasted to pay attention to any sort of plot.

She reluctantly followed the boys up the ramp, hating the cracking sound the wood underneath her made. Once inside, Cassie couldn't help but cough, as a thick layer of cigar smoke replaced the normal air from the outdoors. Through the haze of smoke, the trio could see tables that were seated with flies. It was practically a full house. Two female insects wearing slightly promiscuous outfits were dancing on a stage in the back, male flies catcalling out to them. Even though Cassie knew that it was perfectly normal for flies to act like people in this world... something about that made the place a little unsettling.

"Just you three?" a fly in a rather snappy suit asked them. The group looked at one another and nodded.

"Yeah. Just us," Cassie replied.

They followed the insect toward a table near the back with the two dancing flies. Cassie rolled her eyes at the obnoxious bugs calling out to the ladies, attempting to drown them out. The trio sat down and thanked the fly that graciously sat them. The insect handed out a couple menus and departed the same way he came. Cassie placed the menu on the table. The thought of her food being prepared by bugs made her stomach slightly queasy. Any appetite that might have returned from before immediately disappeared.

 _Besides, we're not here to eat._

Their attention turned toward the middle of the room, where two giant amphibians were boxing with two rather large flies. They had more muscle on them than the other insects in the boat did. Ribby was throwing out punches that appeared to come straight off his glove while Croaks spat out bugs that were on fire. The duo were wearing out the insects, as the flies kept getting hit by the various attacks. Eventually, both insects fell to the ground in defeat, unconscious. The victors raised their arms, as the area erupted in cheers and applause.

"This isn't going to be easy, is it?" Mugman asked, then gulped.

"I don't think so, Mugs," Cuphead replied. "Let's just do it."

The three stood up and walked toward the champions, hearing the thunderous applause increase. Undefeated and cocky, Ribby began to call out, looking for a challenge.

"Who wants to face us _now_ , eh? We're unstoppable!"

The frog felt something tap his leg, then looked down at the figures. He saw a cup, mug, and girl no taller than his lower appendage, and began to chortle.

"Sorry, pipsqueaks. We want to _fight_. Not _frolic_."

With a swift kick, he knocked the trio out of the way. They landed on their bottoms, causing the cheering to immediately switch to laughter. Aggravated, Cuphead stood up, marched to Ribby, and tapped his leg again. The frog looked down at the cup, but was very much annoyed this time around.

"Beat it, kid, or I'll-"

"We're here to collect your debt."

Ribby's eyes widened as Cuphead handed them a notice. Croaks came to join his fighting partner, and read the paper from over the frog's shoulder. To Cuphead's surprise, Ribby sighed in understanding and took his gaze back to the cup.

"I suppose it is about time, isn't it?"

The frog took off one of his boxing gloves. There, right inside was one of the parchments they were looking for. Ribby grabbed the corner sticking out of the glove and began to pull out the contract. The cup's eyes gleamed as he focused on what he was seeing.

 _This may be easier than we originally thought._ Cuphead pondered.

"Wait!" Croaks interrupted, horrified. He forced the frog to look at him and placed his gloved hands on Ribby's shoulders. "After we worked so hard for this? Ribby, we risked _everything_. We're so close to gettin' what we really want. Fame! Fortune! Think of it! All because we would be the best boxers in the entire Isles!"

Ribby's gaze turned from his glove to his friend. The frog sighed, then stuffed the paper back into his glove. Cuphead's heart sank.

"The Devil can wait until after we've accomplished our dreams," Ribby replied harshly.

"No, he can't. We have to collect all of the contracts by midnight... including yours," Mugman stated, his tone getting quieter as his sentence continued. He tried to look as confident as he possibly could.

Ribby sighed, readjusting the glove on his hand. Croaks stared at the frog worriedly, seeing him evaluate his options. Eventually, Ribby looked back at the trio and smirked. Cassie couldn't tell if this was going to go good or bad.

"Ladies and gentlemen!" Ribby called to the audience. The flies had grown bored with the lack of fighting and began chattering amongst themselves. They immediately looked back toward the towering frog before them.

"It looks like we have some new challengers, who want to go for a wallop!" he continued, gesturing toward the cup brothers and Cassie.

The group gulped, as the flies began hooting and hollering, ready for another "show." Ribby walked toward the toad waiting for him on the other side, the two getting into a fighting stance.

"To get our contracts, ya gotta go through us!"

 _Not good... this turned pretty bad really quick._

Cuphead pulled his pants up higher on his waist, Mugman took a drink from the straw on his head, and Cassie... just stood awkwardly. She fished for the pencil in her back pocket, preparing to use it.

Ribby started to throw punches that came flying off his boxing gloves. The three started to either jump or duck the incoming attacks, based on how close the punches were to the ground. Cuphead nearly got hit by one, but quickly avoided it by bending down. He felt the blue flames of the glove touch the rim of his cup. It made him very uneasy.

Croaks started to spit out flies that were burning in the middle of a flame. Cuphead and Mugman began firing at the flying pests while Cassie pulled out her pencil and drew a net. She quickly ran around gathering up the flies, smiling at her creation. Her grin turned into a frown when she saw the flames from the bugs eat away at the net, causing the mesh to fray. The insects flew out of the trap, and began to point and laugh at the girl. The flies sitting in the room noticed her mistake and also giggled at her. She turned slightly pink out of embarrassment.

 _You can't win every one, I guess._

Annoyed, Cuphead and Mugman aimed at the chuckling insects, the bugs screaming in fear before their ultimate demise. Cassie turned her gaze back toward their opponents and saw Ribby begin to curl up into a ball, hurling himself toward them.

"Guys! Look out!" she shouted as the frog came careening down the arena. They all jumped over the amphibian, landing on their feet on the other side. Cassie was surprised at herself, half expecting to break a bone from that attack. She was never this nimble.

Ribby popped back into the fight, and started firing what looked like blue and flashing orbs with many, many white rings around them. Croaks turned into a fan and started to blow the group towards his partner in crime. The trio ran toward the wind, attempting to avoid the spheres that bounced around the room.

Seeing an orb come straight at her, she drew a line above her head and watched the object bounce off the line, then back onto the ground toward Croaks. Cassie laughed, becoming more impressed with the utensil she wielded.

"Guys! He's coming back!" Mugman shouted, Ribby once again curled into a ball and rolled toward them. They all jumped over him and watched as the toad... ate him?

But the cups and girl watched, mouths agape, as they transformed into a slot machine.

 _What the actual..._

She didn't have time to finish her thought as the slot machine started firing golden coins. Cuphead, Mugman, and Cassie took turns dodging the pieces, until the slot handle came down and glowed pink.

"Cuphead! The handle!" Mugman shouted.

"I'm on it!"

As quick as a lighting bolt, Cuphead jumped and parried on the handle shaped like a boxing glove, causing a pink light to glow. The handle went back in its original position and the slots spun around until they showed three of a kind.

Snakes.

Platforms came out of the slot machine with spikes on the sides. The trio struggled as the obstacles came out faster and faster, not wanting to land in-between two of the platforms. Cassie felt her foot graze one of the spikes, slightly wincing in pain. When the attack was finally over, the group was huffing and heaving, trying to catch their breath.

"Hah! Is that all you _got_?" Cassie shouted.

The slot machine glared its eyes at her and began spitting out coins again.

 _Damn. It's not done. Me and my big mouth..._

While Mugman and Cassie continued to dodge the coins, Cuphead parried the handle again, and the three waited for the slots to stop spinning.

Bulls.

More platforms came out looking similar to the ones from before, only they were higher off the ground and had holes on both ends. They all watched as a blue fire burned out of one of the holes, but from which one was random depending on the platform. Cuphead and Mugman used their smoke bomb ability to phase through the flames aimed toward the ground. Cassie had to climb above and pass underneath to avoid everything.

She was panting and her vision was becoming blurry. She knew she running out of stamina very quickly, and it didn't help that the platforms were coming out faster and faster. Cassie tried to determine which hole the flames were going to sprout from, trying to predict where to go...

When she chose the wrong direction.

Climbing above, she didn't anticipate the fire to come upward at her. Terrified, Cassie tried to use her pencil to do _something. Anything_. She drew a line again, this time vertically in a panic, and she watched as the fire shattered the line like it was mirror, its pieces flying everywhere. It felt like slow-motion as the flames came and pummeled into her, knocking her off the platform, the pencil flying out of her hand.

"CASSIE!" both of the brothers shouted.

Cassie's body slammed onto the ground, slightly off to the side. She began to breath shallowly and quickly, trying to get oxygen into her lungs. Cassie looked down at her gut and cried out at the sight. Her shirt was very much singed, as a new hole began to form where she got burned. Cassie looked at her skin and could see it was pretty scorched. She slightly touched the injury and felt it badly burn, causing her to grimace. Trying to prevent the tears from coming, Cassie squeezed her eyes shut and wrapped her arms gingerly around the damaged area, attempting to conceal the wound from the outside world.

"I'm going to help her! Keep fighting!" Mugman shouted to his sibling when the attack finally ceased.

He began to run toward Cassie when he noticed the pencil in the line of fire of the slot machine's attack. Knowing it was special to her, he reached toward it, attempting to get it out of the way. The girl looked up, tears brimming her eyes, to see the toon reach for her writing utensil.

 _Shitshitshitshitshit_.

"Mugman! **NO**!"

It was too late.

Cassie and Cuphead heard the agonizing shout come from Mugman. They both whipped their head in the youngest brother's direction. Mugman quickly let the pencil drop from his hand, and watched it slowly roll toward the girl. He kneeled on the ground and screamed in horror, shaking as he saw smoke arise from his hand. Cassie was mortified. Cuphead was devastated.

 _Oh my god. What... have I done?_

In a fury, Cuphead fired at the slot machine as quickly as he could, yelling the entire time. Ribby and Croaks could take no more as the machine sputtered and emanated smoke, signaling their defeat. The slot machine morphed back into the two brothers, who laid defeatedly on the ground. The flies all looked around at each other and chattered, not quite expecting that ending.

Ribby opened his eyes to see the eldest cup standing above him. He sighed and pulled the contract out from the hiding place inside the glove. Croaks followed suit, taking off his own glove and pulling out his own parchment. They gave the papers to Cuphead, watching as he snatched their souls right from out of their hands.

"We wanted to be pros. We wanted it all... everything that we have worked so hard for will be gone," Croaks sadly stated. The toad lifted his arm up with immense amount of difficulty, and watched as it weakly flopped back to the ground.

Cuphead put the contracts away and walked toward Cassie and his sibling. Mugman winced, as he tried to clasp his hand around the new wound. It would definitely need bandaged. Cassie was trying to pick herself off the ground when Cuphead came over and pushed her back down. The pain that had slightly subsided in her gut had then increased.

"Why didn't you tell us it would do that?! You... you hurt my brother!" Cuphead shouted, gaining the attention of the flies once more.

"Cuphead, it's not that big of a- ahh!" Mugman began to say, before his hand throbbed in excruciating pain. Cassie quickly tried to stand up to go to him, but Cuphead shielded him from her.

"I-I didn't think to tell you! I didn't think it would happen to you! Cuphead! Mugman! Please! I'm sorry!"

Cuphead looked at her and scoffed. Mugman looked down, trying to blink back his tears.

"You didn't think it would happen, but it did, Cassie," the oldest cup replied.

She looked shamefully back at the ground, his words lingered in the atmosphere. The last thing she ever wanted was to be the cause of one of them, or both of them getting hurt.

"Cuphead-" Cassie began, but was cut off.

"Cassie, I... I can't be around you right now. I'm just... so angry. I need some space," Cuphead bluntly stated, then looked sorely at Mugman, still clenching his wrist from the pain. The sight made Cassie's heart drop.

"C'mon, Mugman. I'm getting you out of here."

Cuphead wrapped his arm around his brother's shoulders, and lead him toward the exit. Mugman glanced back at Cassie, who was still trying to be steady on her feet. She watched the brothers leave the establishment, then looked around, seeing the flies gawking at the scene that just happened.

"What are you looking at, huh?" Cassie yelled, causing the insects looking back toward their dinner as an uncomfortable tension filled the room. "The show is over."

Cassie walked outside of the boat as quickly as possible to avoid the annoying gossiping occurring within that environment. She glanced around the now more familiar area outside, looking for any sign of the brothers. After seeing no trace of them, Cassie sighed and figured it was best to leave them be for a little bit.

"Cuphead. Mugman. I'm so, so sorry..." she whispered aloud, hoping that somehow they would hear her.

Without a word, a figure quickly rose from the ground behind her and wrapped a hand around her mouth, its other arm tightly wound around her torso. Cassie screamed as loudly as she could, thrashing and kicking, trying to get away. The wound that had formed mere minutes ago was getting more sore with each movement Cassie made. She turned her head slightly to the side and gasped in horror at who she saw the figure was.

 _King Dice?!_

"Well, well. Lookey who we have here. The boss says you are... quite _interesting_ ," he began, enjoying the terrified look in her sapphire eyes. "Now doll, with you away from the boys, how about we have a nice, long _chit-chat_?"

 _Over my cold, dead body!_

Cassie bit the hand that covered her mouth and felt Dice remove both arms that enveloped her, hearing him yelp in pain. He was clearly surprised by her attack. She took the opportunity to sprint away from the ship and go... well, she didn't know really where. _Anywhere_ was better than back there.

Cassie pulled out her pencil and gripped it tightly in her hand, running as fast as her legs would take her. It almost felt like something grabbed her ankles, but whatever it was caused Cassie to trip. The pencil flew out of her hand and landed in the grass a few feet in front of her. She stretched out her arm in an attempt to grab it, but felt herself being pulled _backward._

Cassie turned her head around to see King Dice halfway above the ground, pulling her legs toward him. Petrified, she began clawing at the dirt, trying to pry herself from the sadistic die man. She screamed as she got further away from the pencil and closer toward Dice. Once she was completely next to him, he pinned her close with one arm and descended them both into the ground.

It felt like a split second before they emerged. Dice released her, and watched her fall to the floor. Cassie felt very disoriented from the peculiar way of travel. Head still spinning, she looked around the room. It was _incredibly_ dark, making it difficult to determine how large the area actually was. The only figure she could really make out was Dice, who was casually smirking at her.

"You can try to find an escape all you want, my dear. But the only way in and out of this room is with _magic_."

She glared at the toon and crossed her arms. It was almost like he had intentionally planned to separate her from the pencil. "What do you want, you game-piece asshole?"

Dice didn't answer, but instead placed a clear, label-less bottle in her hand. It contained a pink-like liquid that bubbled slightly every now and again. Incredibly suspicious, she looked back at him.

"Drink it," was his only response.

Cautiously, she opened the bottle and dropped the cork on the ground. Cassie stared at Dice, hoping to find in his facial expressions what he was feeling or thinking. Instead, she was met with a face of indifference.

 _He's the manager of the casino. He has to have a good poker face. Crap._

Figuring she was pretty screwed either way, she gulped back about half of the liquid. It didn't really have a flavor, but it burned in the back of her throat. With her free hand, she grabbed her neck and coughed, trying to alleviate the pain. After a moment, the discomfort in her throat dissipated.

As did the continuous throbbing in her abdomen.

Cassie looked down to see her shirt was no longer damaged. The hole that had begun to form in the clothing seemed to repair itself. She placed a hand to her covered stomach and anticipated the terrible aching sensation she experienced before. Cassie gasped at the lack of pain and pulled her shirt up slightly to investigate. There was no trace of the injury, like it had never even happened.

"What the hell did you give me?" she asked, quickly putting her shirt back down, absolutely startled.

"A healing potion. You had quite a scrape back with the boxing doofuses. I figured you needed some fixing up," King Dice replied.

Cassie glared at him, incredibly wary of his actions. She realized her bag filled with odds and ends was still on her person. Cassie placed the bottle into one of its pouches. This... thing dragged her down to who knows where. The least he could do was let her have the rest of the potion.

She jumped as he snapped his fingers, causing a golden table to materialize. Turning behind her, she saw a chair that matched the furniture. Cassie turned back toward Dice and slowly sat down.

"You've been here for a little while, and I noticed you haven't eaten anything. Would you like something?"

"You've been _spying_ on me? For how long?"

King Dice chuckled. "Almost the entire time."

Cassie suddenly remembered the key on the chain she wore around her neck. She pulled the collar of her shirt up further, hoping that if it was visible, it would be hidden a little more. Cassie wished that he missed the point in time where the key was given to her. She didn't really want to imagine what would happen if Dice somehow got ahold of _Elder Kettle's_ pencil.

"That's super creepy, dude," Cassie bluntly stated.

"Would you like something to eat, my dear?" Dice repeated, taking the seat across from her.

Cassie sighed, her stomach angrily growling. She figured she would have to eat sooner or later. "Uh, spaghetti would be nice, I guess?"

With another snap, a plate appeared in front of her with a heap of spaghetti, along with the proper eating utensils. Cassie silently cut up the long noodles, twisted them with her fork, and popped the food in her mouth. She closed her eyes, savoring the flavor of each bite. For being cartoon food, it was more heavenly than she expected it to be.

"Would you like something to drink?"

"Wine, _please_ ," Cassie requested. After fighting vegetables, frogs, and being pulled into the earth by a crazy die, she needed some alcohol.

A wine glass appeared in front of her with a bottle magically pouring in the liquid. She took the glass and gulped it back. It was some of the best wine she had ever tasted. She had two more glass-fulls of the delicious liquid, and started to feel slightly at ease. Immediately remembering where she was, she stared at Dice again, her comfort instantly turning into tension.

"Why am I really here?"

"What kind of question is that, Cassandra?" Dice began. She cringed at her full first name. Cassie never really introduced herself, and her mind raced as to why he knew her name. "Can't I just be friendly to a lovely newcomer like yourself?"

Cassie scoffed. "Don't get flirty with me, you dirtbag. I know there's more to this than food, wine, and a healing potion."

Dice smirked and put his hands together, beginning to arise from his seat and make his way over toward her. "Clever girl. I actually did bring you here for... a _proposition_ , if you will."

 _Oh great. Another freaking deal._

"My boss would love to have your pencil in his hands and have even more power over the Isles. He sent me to find you, which honestly wasn't too tricky."

Cassie shrunk back slightly at the last sentence, very disappointed that he was able to find her so fast, and actually admit it wasn't that hard.

"However, you have quite a bit of skill with that thing. I see a little bit of potential in you," he finished.

"What's your point?" Cassie inquired, a little fearful of where this was headed. The flavors of the spaghetti and the wine suddenly left a bad aftertaste in her mouth.

"If I have you do some _favors_ for me, I won't hand you over to the Devil."

Cassie slouched in her seat. Favors? What kind of favors? Would she do things like an intern would and make coffee, or more likely, would she have to... hurt someone? She already hurt the two closest people she had here. She didn't want to damage anyone else.

But then again... what other option did she have?

Cassie sighed, stood up, and held out her hand. "Don't utter a word of this conversation to Cuphead or Mugman, and we have a deal."

"Done," King Dice greedily accepted her hand and vigorously shook it.

Cassie didn't know what it was, but she had a weird tingly sensation throughout the whole handshake. She was thankful it stopped when Dice let go.

"They're probably looking for you by now. Those kids don't hold grudges for too terribly long. Cupface probably feels _awful,"_ he began. "It's time for you to go back. Like you said. You don't want them to suspect a thing."

"How will I know when you need me?" Cassie dejectedly asked.

King Dice smirked. "I'll find you when I need you, doll-face."

He snapped his fingers once more, and she disappeared in a puff of smoke. Cassie closed her eyes and began to scream. It felt as if she was going down a water slide at a theme park, except a million times faster and if the water completely surrounded her. She tried to catch her breath, but it seemed as if there was some form of pressure on her thoracic cavity preventing her to breathe. Cassie resorted to holding the air in her lungs, hoping that this torture would end soon.

After a moment, the moving suddenly... stopped. She realized she was laying on her abdomen, and a feeling of soreness appeared everywhere due to the awful traveling experience. Daring to open her eyes, Cassie saw she in the same exact place she was before getting dragged to wherever the hell she was. She felt a little bit of relief wash over as the pencil was still laying in the grass, right in front of her. She quickly picked it up and shoved it in her back pocket. Cassie slowly stretched her legs and attempted to stand, but felt her knees buckle and stumbled back to the ground. Unable to really move for the moment, she decided to lay on her side and let herself weep. The feeling of respite she momentarily had immediately turned to shame.

This was only the beginning of whatever madness was to come.

* * *

 **Things are getting a little crazy! Haha. I should have Chapter 5 up soon. Thank you guys so much for all the feedback and for reading my FanFic. You guys have given me a great confidence boost. Until next time, everyone!**

 **-TheLexTurtle**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey, guys! This is a tamer Chapter compared to the others so far. I needed to lay down some plot points in this one in order for everything to come together later, so I apologize if it's a little slow. I tried to rewrite parts I wasn't too happy with a few times, but I was satisfied with this final product.**

 **Here is Chapter Five!**

* * *

Elder Kettle sat in one of his cloth chairs in the living room. He flipped a page of the book he was reading, hearing the swishing sound of the paper. It was one story he meant to get around to, but with two kids to look after, the time to read novels was few and far between.

That, and he wanted a distraction. Something to pass the time instead of sitting around, worried about the boys.

"Elder Kettle!" he heard someone shout, immediately snapping him away from the sentence he was reading. The kettle closed the book and placed it on the coffee table. He looked out the window to see Cuphead with his arm wrapped around Mugman's shoulders. The younger brother had his teeth clenched and one hand wrapped around the other.

 _Oh no._

Elder Kettle quickly opened the door to let the frantic boys in. Cuphead lead Mugman to one of the open chairs and sat him down. Mugman grimaced. Over the past few minutes, his pain had gotten worse.

"What happened?"

"We were fighting Ribby and Croaks when Cassie got hurt. Her pencil went flying, Mugman went to go pick it up, and... and..." Cuphead couldn't finish the sentence. He looked at his brother, and solemnly closed his eyes.

"This is all _her_ fault," Cuphead seethed.

Elder Kettle sat next to the younger sibling and gently took his hand, taking off the scorched glove that surrounded it. He examined the wound, and pressed his hand gingerly against it. Mugman winced, fresh tears spilling.

"I have a healing potion. It's a deeper wound, so it may not heal entirely right away. It will definitely need bandaged, though."

Elder Kettle went into the adjacent room. Cuphead glanced at his younger sibling, sadness in his eyes. The older sibling went to see the kettle, who was pulling out a wrap of gauze from a cabinet.

"Where's Cassie? You said she got hurt," Elder Kettle asked as he fished for more supplies, sensing the presence of the older cup.

"Uhh, yeah. About that," Cuphead began as he twiddled his fingers. That got the elder's attention, as he turned to face the boy. Cuphead gulped.

"We, I mean... _I_ kind of blew her off."

"What? Why?"

Cuphead's face turned a slight hue of red. "She didn't tell us that the pencil would hurt us. I dunno. I was really mad at her. I still kind of am."

"Did Cassie give you a reason why she didn't tell you?"

Cuphead began to rub his shoulder. "She said she didn't think it would happen to us."

Elder Kettle sighed, beginning to walk out of the room with the gauze and saline he could find. "She wasn't intentionally trying to hurt you."

"I know, I know," the cup replied, following his guardian. He was starting to feel how out of proportion his anger became. "I just... I began to trust her, and now _this_ happens to Mugman."

Elder Kettle stopped walking and knelt to be at Cuphead's height. He placed a hand on the concerned boy's shoulder. "It's okay to feel mad at her. I completely understand where you're comin' from. But she's likely really upset that you left her behind like that."

Cuphead shrugged and looked down. "Yeah. Probably."

The two walked toward the younger sibling still sitting silently in the chair. He looked up at them, no longer crying, but tear streaks were evident on his face. Elder Kettle opened his lid, and a bottle with pink liquid inside popped out. He caught the bottle in his hand, popped off the cork, and handed the container to Mugman. The mug grabbed it with his uninjured hand.

"You've never had one of these. It burns at first, but you'll feel better in a minute."

Mugman slowly sipped on the potion, his eyes widening at the weird sensation at the back of his throat. He suppressed the feeling of gagging and continued to drink until most of the liquid was gone. Mugman looked down at his hand that had started to heal slightly. It was still sore and pretty red, but it didn't sting as badly as it did before.

Elder Kettle dabbed the wound with some gauze drenched with saline, then used some of the dry gauze to wrap the wound. He stopped every time Mugman grunted, concerned he was wrapping the mesh too tightly. When the kettle was finished, he sighed and looked at the material around the boy's hand.

"I'm really sorry that happened to you, Mugman," the elder stated.

Mugman shook his head. "Cassie didn't plan to hurt me. I know it was an accident."

His gaze went from the gauze enveloped around his hand to his brother.

"We should find her, Cuphead. She's all alone out here. I know if I were her, I'd be pretty scared."

Cuphead exhaled, then nodded in agreement, realizing he probably made her feel embarrassed and terrible. "You're right. I'm sorry that I caused a scene back at the boat."

Mugman smiled at him, signaling that all was forgiven. Cuphead grinned back. The younger brother slowly stood up and looked at Elder Kettle, suddenly realizing something.

"The hand I fire with is the one that got injured. I should probably try not to shoot with it, huh?"

"I'd try to use your other hand, if you can," Elder Kettle replied.

Mugman examined his non-dominant hand, then pointed it toward the open window. He fired, the beam of light not going out the window, but instead shattering a vase. He turned crimson.

"Oops. Sorry."

Elder Kettle chuckled. "That vase was pretty ugly anyway."

The three kitchen appliances laughed, then gave each other an embrace, being wary of Mugman's hand. Knowing that it was time to go, Cuphead opened the front door and the brothers briskly walked out, hoping their sudden feeling of dread would dissipate. Elder Kettle watched them leave until the trees that surrounded the path completely enveloped them. He closed the door, picked up the book once more, and opened it to where he stopped.

Cuphead looked up at the sky, seeing the sun was a little farther along its course for the day. He pulled out the list of debtors, Mugman also taking a peek at it.

"It's a little later than I would like it to be. How about we go fight Goopy?" the eldest cup suggested.

"I think that's probably the best idea," Mugman agreed. "Are we going to look for Cassie?"

"We don't have time to specifically search for her. If we stumble across her on our way along, that's even better," he replied.

The two brothers strolled to the northern part of the Isle, trying to appear confident, but fear present in both of their hearts.

* * *

Cassie woke up to find herself still laying in the grass. She immediately sat up, not remembering falling asleep. Rubbing a hand through her hair, she looked at the sky, seeing the sun was more toward its peak. Cassie figured she was out for no more than half an hour. She slowly moved to a standing position, prepared if her knees gave out again. Once upright, she looked down to see her bag lying sadly and worn on the ground.

Picking it up, Cassie pulled out the map and compass. She realized she had not really investigated the northern area of the Isle. Cassie figured that would be her best chance to find Cuphead and Mugman.

That is, if they even wanted to see her again.

She folded up the map as best as she could, cringing at the awful crinkling sound it made, and held it in her left hand. Cassie slightly glanced back at the decrepit boat in the distance, gripped the compass in her right hand and followed the arrow pointing north.

As she continued, Cassie looked to her left, seeing the garden she and the cup brothers fought at a little less than an hour ago. Her stomach twisted, seeing the remnants of the garden. She saw the Root Pack, still extremely tiny, picking up their destroyed, sad vegetables.

Cassie, however, did not expect to see Ribby and Croaks there as well. They appeared to have gained a little strength back, and were helping their friends clean up their garden.

She walked over to them, causing the three vegetables and two amphibians to glance up. They began to glare at her. Cassie shivered and gripped the wooden fence.

"You again?" Croaks stated, throwing bits of a demolished carrot toward the girl, causing her to flinch. "Just get out of here. You've already ruined our lives."

"I'm sorry. I just... came to check on you," she replied.

"We're still doing terrible. Thanks for asking," the toad sarcastically retorted, then turned back to his work.

Ribby looked at the expression on her face as she took her gaze toward the ground. Something was... off. When she was with the boys earlier, the girl appeared to be relatively confident. Now, it seemed she was empty inside, like an unwanted shell discarded on the beach.

Speaking of the boys...

"Where are Cuphead and Mugman?" Ribby asked. "They were with you."

"My pencil hurt Mugman during our fight and they stormed off. They probably really hate me right now, but I need to find them and clear up this whole mess I made."

The frog shook his head. "They're not ones to usually hold grudges. They may make some silly decisions, but they are certainly not spiteful."

A little bit of comfort washed over Cassie in response to Ribby's sentence. She hoped that maybe, just maybe, they were looking for her.

"Look, lady. We're trying to pick up our lives a little bit. Unless you have anything else to say, just go, okay?" Psycarrot sternly requested, jumping up on the top of the wooden fence to meet the girl's eyesight.

Cassie sighed, knowing the carrot was right. She looked at the five of them as they picked up the vegetables, taking that as her cue to leave. Cassie turned and began to walk away, when she stopped in her tracks. She trudged back over to the group, them looking up at her not angrily this time, but a little confused.

"Can I ask a question?" Cassie began.

The frog, toad, and vegetables glanced at each other, then back to the adult. The toad sighed, not really wanting to talk to the person who destroyed his hopes and dreams, but realizing she probably wasn't going to go away if they didn't chat.

"Shoot," Croaks stated.

"When you made your deals, how did you guys go about your normal lives?"

A sharp silence had cut the air, causing a wave of uncomfortableness to wash in. Psycarrot was the first to break the tension.

"Well, our lives weren't really _normal_ again. We just sort of... pretended everything was fine, even though we were scared the inevitable was going to happen."

"And that was?" Cassie asked.

Croaks rolled his eyes annoyedly. "Losing our soul contracts. Did you really need to ask?"

"Oh. Right. Sorry."

"Besides. You don't need to worry about that. It's not like you made a deal or anything, right?" Ribby jokingly asked, attempting to lighten the mood slightly. He expected the girl to at least awkwardly laugh at his terrible attempt at a joke, but instead was met with stern eyes.

"What? You're serious?!" Ribby practically yelled. "You made a deal with the Devil?"

Cassie made a shush sound and quickly glanced around, making sure nobody else was nearby. She then looked back at the frog.

"I made a deal with King Dice. Cuphead and Mugman don't know about it, and I'd like to keep it that way."

"King Dice is practically as bad as the Devil. Why did you do that?" Psycarrot asked.

"Gee, I dunno, I was probably going to die if I declined, so I thought it would be better to save my own head," Cassie defensively snapped, immediately feeling slightly embarrassed at her intonation and word choice. The group stared at her. She huffed, and rubbed her face. Even though they were talking to her, it didn't necessarily mean they wanted to.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? With the cup boys mad at me and King Dice practically cornering me into making a deal, I'm just... not in a good place."

Another silence squeezed its way into the atmosphere, causing Cassie to feel more awkward than she was before.

"Now, If you'll excuse me, I have two young kids to find, and more souls to unfortunately collect," Cassie sadly stated. "We really don't get enjoyment out of doing this, you know?"

Cassie was only met with more dead air and stares. She tapped lightly on the wooden fence, and took the quietness as her final signal to leave.

"I'll leave you guys alone. You obviously don't like me very much."

Cassie turned to walk away, being stopped by the sound of Ribby's voice.

"Yeah. We're not your number one fans."

She scoffed. "I kinda figured."

"But we hate the Devil and King Dice even more."

Cassie slowly turned back toward the group. They had went from watching her walk away to looking at one another.

"Ribby, are you crazy?! She took everything away from us! She can't know about this!" Croaks shouted. Cassie looked at him questionably.

"I can't know what?"

"I know. But, you heard what she said. She and the cups don't like doing this," Ribby began, seemingly not hearing her question. "That means we're kind of on the same team, right?"

"What team?" Cassie asked.

"No, it doesn't. She just made a deal with Dice. That's really bad," Croaks countered.

"Hellooooo. Is anyone going to listen to me?"

"But that gives her even more reason to be a part of this. She probably doesn't want to be with Dice," Ribby stated.

"What are you guys talking about?!" Cassie yelled, snapping the frog and toad away from their argument, the two of them turning their gaze to her.

"We're planning a revolt," the frog said.

"Ribby! That was supposed to be a secret!" Moe Tato intervened.

"A revolt? Like what? Going to fight the Devil?" Cassie asked.

"Well, yeah," Psycarrot stated.

"So much for keeping the whole plan quiet," Croaks mumbled. Ribby glared at his fighting partner.

The girl shook her head. "The first place I landed at here was in the Devil's office. I _narrowly_ escaped."

She looked at the claw marks on her wrist that had also begun to heal, thanks to the potion Dice gave her.

"No offense," she continued, "but how are you three veggies, and two amphibians going to take down the Devil?"

"Not just us. The commotion back at the Clipjoint caused the flies to start spreading rumors. They're a chatty bunch. I'm sure a good chunk of the others know by now that you and the cups are after their soul contracts," Ribby explained.

"So, we're planning on getting the other debtors' help as well. If all of us work together, we may have a shot of saving our souls," Psycarrot added.

"The soul contracts are due by midnight, right?" Ribby asked.

"Yeah," Cassie answered.

"We're having a meeting at dusk on the Third Isle with all the debtors we can team up with. That's in about eight hours," the frog stated.

He held out a gloved hand toward the girl. "Are you in?"

Cassie seemed pensive for a moment, then nodded, taking his hand in hers and shaking it. It was the best chance that she and the others could break free from the Devil and Dice.

"Ribby, I _really_ don't think she should be a part of this..." Croaks stated.

Cassie turned to the concerned toad. "I get you're worried I'll ruin this. Hell, I basically ruined your lives. But, I promise that I'll do everything in my power to help you. I swear. I don't want to be in the Devil's and Dice's grasp as much as you."

 _"You should never make promises, kid,"_ a voice whispered from behind. Cassie turned her head, slightly alarmed, only to find nobody there. She shuddered, instantly feeling a little afraid.

Croaks sighed, seeing her worried eyes. The girl really did seem petrified. That, or she was an incredibly good actress.

Realizing they were running out of time, the toad huffed and stared warily at Cassie. "Fine. Just... don't get in the way, okay?"

The uneasy feeling she was experiencing disappeared, being replaced with a smile. "I won't let you down."

"You better not," Croaks added, "or _all_ of us will be coming after you."

She gulped. All the debtors may not have their powers after this ordeal, but she didn't want to face against twenty or so angry toons.

"What do you want me to do?" she asked.

"For now... I guess just keep collecting the soul contracts. That's really all you can do," Psycarrot dejectedly stated. "Tell Cuphead and Mugman about our meeting as well. I'm sure you guys can spare about ten minutes of your time."

Cassie nodded. "I'll also tell the other debtors, if they don't know about it already."

"Good idea," Ribby stated.

A loud _**BANG**_ in the sky drew the group of six away from the conversation and toward the source of the noise. In the distance, a red plane and a blue plane were floating like kites in the atmosphere, as well as a not-too-happy gigantic bull in the sky, charging at them.

 _Well, at least I found Cuphead and Mugman. That's one of my many problems of the day taken care of._

Cassie pulled out her pencil, doodled a green aircraft, and drew a pair of goggles on her face. She glanced back to the Root Pack, Ribby, and Croaks as she climbed into the plane.

"And that is definitely my cue to leave. We'll see you soon, okay?"

They said nothing else as the girl flew her drawing high into the sky. She tried not to panic, as her fear of heights was beginning to creep up on her. Cassie concentrated on keeping her eyes open and not shutting them in terror as she got closer to the area of battle.

 _ **Thirty minutes earlier...**_

In what seemed like a flash of a moment, Cuphead and Mugman stumbled across Goopy, the blue thing instantly challenging them to a fight. Word had apparently gotten around pretty quickly that they were coming.

And Goopy was none too thrilled to see them.

Cuphead wiped the forming beads of sweat off his brow, and dodged the punch that came from the now-larger ball of slime. Him and Mugman began dancing around the area, attempting to avoid his bouncing attack. Since he grew practically twice his size, it was becoming a little more difficult to avoid Goopy careening toward the ground.

Mugman stumbled to the earth, the weight of Goopy started to make the ground shake. Looking at the soil, he saw a shadow form over him, getting gradually darker and growing slightly bigger. He quickly gazed up, seeing the slime coming down right above him. The mug rolled out of the way as Goopy crashed to the ground with a hard "thump." Mugman didn't want to imagine what would have happened if he was in the way.

As the brothers continued firing at the slime, Goopy suddenly stopped. He looked very much dazed and started moving his form back and forth as a tombstone came landing right on top of him. The letters R.I.P. were seen near the bottom of the stone, a cross was at the top, and the center of it having what appeared to be an etching of Goopy.

"Is he... _dead_?" Mugman asked, slightly horrified.

The gravestone started moving very quickly to the right and left, slightly behind the area they were fighting in previously. Cuphead and Mugman stared at the stone, very puzzled. Their eyes got wide when they saw the gravestone start to fall forward toward them.

"No he's not!" Cuphead cried, shoving his brother out of the way, and attempted to dive to safety. However, his right leg got caught in the attack, making a sickening China-breaking sound as the gravestone came colliding with the cup's appendage.

"Cuphead!"

The cup grimaced. That hurt worse than he thought it was going to. Nothing broken entirely, but possibly fractured. Cuphead forced himself to stand up and continue firing alongside his younger sibling, his leg throbbing constantly.

The stone continued to speed around the area, slamming down on the ground every now and again. Cuphead's leg grew worse with pain at each step, attempting to shift more of his weight to his left one, resulting in more of a hop instead of a walk. After what seemed like forever of firing and dodging, the tombstone cracked in half, Goopy's face split down the center, exes in both of his eyes.

From what appeared to be inside the tombstone, a piece of paper floated out and flew toward Cuphead. He caught the parchment, and unhappily read it.

"Soul Contract of Goopy le Grande."

Cuphead and Mugman exchanged glances, then their gaze was broken by the eldest brother yelping and clutching his leg in pain. The pressure from his hand helped alleviate the throbbing... a little. It was still pretty sore. Mugman grabbed his sibling's shoulder, quite concerned.

"Cuphead, we need to get you back to Elder Kettle."

"Nah, Mugman. I'm fine, see?"

Cuphead stood straight up, hands out a little from his sides, wearing a somewhat convincing smile. His facade was broken when he bent down to place the paper in his bag, the pain coming back full force. Cuphead winced again.

"I don't believe you."

The older brother groaned, picking up the bag. "We don't have time to go back again. It's already the early afternoon. Let's just keep going to Hilda's."

Mugman sighed, not really in the mood to argue. He followed behind his brother, who was slightly limping. The heat of the sun was beating down on them, causing exhaustion to settle in. After crossing a few bridges, they came across the Canteen Pilot. The brothers were about to cross the last bridge when the Canteen placed an arm in front of them, preventing them to cross.

"Hold up there, kiddos. Where do you think you're going?"

Mugman blinked at him a few times. "Well, we were going to see Hilda."

"You know, the only way to get to Hilda is by plane."

Cuphead courteously smiled as best as he could, despite how uncomfortable he was. "Oh. So... could we borrow two planes?"

The Canteen began to laugh. "What's that? You two want to fly in a plane like I do? Ha! You're not sitting in any cockpit 'til you study those blueprints!"

He pulled out a whole stack of blue papers from a mysterious space behind him and threw them into the boys' arms, causing them to stumble back from the sudden addition of weight. Their legs quivered and their frowns grew, looking at the relatively high piles they were holding.

"Mugman, this could literally take all day!" Cuphead whispered to his sibling in a panic. The younger brother looked back at the irritated can.

"Look, we're really sorry. But we don't have time to read all of this. Could we get, ya know, a _shortened_ version?" Mugman politely asked, putting on a grin for good measure.

The Canteen put a hand to his chin in thought. "It would be against my morals to let you fly without looking at _all_ the instructions... but, you did ask nicely, so I'll give you an exception."

He took the blueprints from the boys and shoved them back in the space he got them from before. The siblings watched as they vanished out of thin air. He pulled out not a stack of papers this time, but only one. The Canteen handed it to Mugman, who graciously accepted it. Him and Cuphead skimmed the instructions together.

"We can turn into... bombs?" Cuphead asked.

The Canteen smiled and nodded. "Once you build up enough strength, you fellers can turn into bombs and blast into your enemies."

"And we can become tiny?" Mugman added.

"If you need to get outta the way of something super fast, that can be real handy."

The siblings glanced over the blueprint one more time, then handed it back to the Canteen, watching as he delicately folded the paper back up.

"I think we get the gist of it," Cuphead stated.

"Guess you two mugs are ready for the wild blue yonder!" the talking piece of metal exclaimed, clasping its hands together. From the pocket of his overalls, the Canteen pulled out two keys.

"Just remember, those birds you're flying have their own set of tricks. Fancy fighting moves on the ground don't apply up there."

He handed one key to Cuphead, the other to Mugman. They looked at the new objects in their hands. The keys were very worn, having likely been used for many, many years. Cuphead's was a darker shade of red, while Mugman's was a lighter blue.

"Those keys work for every aircraft I own," the Canteen stated.

"Where would our planes be?" Mugman asked.

"I have at least two on each Isle. The ones here are right near Hilda."

Cuphead smiled at the pilot. "Thank you, sir."

He returned the grin. "Well, good luck, I suppose."

The brothers walked across the bridge a short distance to a rather large observatory. Right outside of the building were two planes; one red and one blue. Cuphead and Mugman climbed into their respective aircrafts, put the keys in their ignitions, and jumped at the loud bubbly and crunching sounds the machines made.

They looked at each other and gulped. That probably was not a good sign.

Wanting to get this fight over with as soon as possible, they pulled the levers of their aircrafts to get them soaring into the sky, and flew up to Hilda, who was sitting on a cloud, sternly waiting for them.

* * *

 **I was originally going to include Hilda Berg in this Chapter, but I didn't like how everything flowed with her in this. It also would have been over 6,000 words, which is too long for this particular Chapter. I didn't really want the most tedious part so far to be that much; it's lengthy enough. Haha.**

 **Be sure to R &R! Catch ya later, everyone!**

 **-TheLexTurtle**


	6. Chapter 6

**Heya, guys! This is the longest Chapter so far, as I wrote in most of the remainder of Isle One. This story actually reached over 1,400 views on my birthday, so thank you all very, very much! You guys made that day awesome - I am truly appreciative of you all.**

 **Enjoy Chapter 6!**

* * *

Hilda Berg glared at the two planes flying toward her. She gripped the cloud she sat upon, causing it to disintegrate beneath her hands. Hilda floated in the air and began to move backward in order to increase the distance between her and them.

"Hilda!" Cuphead shouted over the roaring air. "We need to get your-"

"-soul contract. I know," she bitterly finished. "Word spreads fast around these parts."

Hilda sucked in a breath of air, her entire torso expanding like a balloon. As she exhaled, she morphed from a toon woman into what appeared to be a zeppelin riding a unicycle.

"But you're going to have to get through me, first!"

Cuphead stared at the blimp with determination. Mugman gulped and grabbed the levers on the dashboard, pushing them slightly forward.

The two began firing bullets at the zeppelin as she grinned at them menacingly. Hilda began to laugh at them, the brothers not anticipating "haha" to physically appear from her mouth. As the word sped toward them, Mugman quickly floated his plane below the word, while Cuphead pressed a button, his plane instantly shrinking, as well as himself. The older brother flew the plane above the word, the now tinier aircraft slightly faster than when he was expecting. He gripped the levers in a panic, attempting to maneuver the small plane in the high gusts of wind. After a moment, Cuphead pressed the same button again, the aircraft growing back to its original size.

Mugman looked over at his brother, who seemed slightly disoriented, small stars circling his head.

"Cuphead! Are you alright?"

Cuphead started breathing heavily. "Yeah... woah. That's going to take some getting used to."

Hilda Berg suddenly sucked in a huge breath of air, then propelled herself toward the brothers. Both Cuphead and Mugman shrunk and flew out of the way, the younger sibling beginning to understand why making the plane smaller was a little disturbing. After she went past them, both boys took the opportunity to make their aircrafts larger.

"Where did she go?" Cuphead asked, turning to his brother.

Mugman happened to glance behind him, seeing Hilda's back coming toward them.

"MOVE!" Mugman yelled, flying his plane below where she was going toward. Cuphead got the message and the two quickly drifted their planes higher into the sky. She returned into the area floating backward, waving her arms and hands. She appeared to be mumbling some words, almost like she was casting a spell.

Suddenly, clouds completely surrounded her, leaving Cuphead and Mugman with no clue of what was happening. The puffs disappeared after a moment, revealing her transformation into a bull. Hilda stared angrily at them, red stars replacing where her pupils were.

The duo noticed tiny green and purple planes that appeared for a brief period, only to shoot bullets at them. Mugman frowned as he attempted to maneuver the barrage of bullets coming his way. He felt one of the black pellets graze his plane, hearing the ugly "clang" noise of the bullet against the metal of the aircraft. The old plane suddenly began to sputter and cough more than it had previously.

 _Well. That probably wasn't good..._ Mugman thought, seeing smoke arise from the engine. He just hoped his plane wouldn't crash.

Cuphead looked ahead to Hilda, seeing her glide around the air in her new form. She abruptly stopped, her gaze locked onto the eldest sibling. His pupils shrunk, realizing she was about to charge. A glowing button was caught in his peripheral vision. He instantly pressed it, hoping that whatever happened next would not kill him.

The plane suddenly morphed into a super bomb with an intense grin and fixated eyes on Hilda. The bomb zoomed toward the bull, just as she charged at Cuphead, causing an explosion to roar across the sky. Hilda turned back into the zeppelin, slightly heaving from the surprise attack. More green and purple aircrafts came forward, continuing to fire their bullets at the brothers as Hilda regained some of her energy.

"GUYS!" a familiar voice shouted. Cuphead and Mugman whipped their heads around to see a girl flying a lime green plane.

"Cassie!" Mugman exclaimed, a large smile on his face. Cuphead seemed rather wary, but looked at her with slightly relieved eyes. She beamed at the brothers, but the grin abruptly turned into a startled frown.

"Look out! In front of you!"

Cuphead and Mugman looked back at Hilda, but instead saw a tornado whizzing toward them. Somewhat getting the hang of the buttons, the brothers shrank their aircrafts and maneuvered their way above the cyclone. Cassie stared at the twister, then turned her panicked gaze toward the buttons, pounding them and hoping something would happen. After hitting a red button, the plane shrunk, and the tiny Cassie flew the plane around the tornado, just as it was about to suck her into the vortex.

She pressed the same button again, feeling herself grow back to normal size. Cassie watched the brothers fly in front of her, the three of them firing bullets from their planes. Hilda sucked in a breath of air again, Cuphead and Mugman recognizing what she was about to do.

"Cassie, move!" Mugman shouted at her.

The girl nodded, following the movements of the brothers upward, allowing Hilda to blast forward. The zeppelin returned, flying backward as she did before, more clouds enveloping her. When they dissipated, two females twirled around each other, a golden ball in-between them. They appeared to be wearing outfits made of clouds, their hair made of the same material. They looked at the trio hatefully, stars once again in the place where their pupils would be.

Cassie gasped, looking at the women and thinking of the bull they just fought. She began to put the pieces of the puzzle together, vaguely remembering the information she learned in her Greek Mythology course in high school.

 _Hilda... she's taking forms of constellations. The last one was Taurus... and this one is Gemini! That's it! This is what she asked the Devil for!_

The identical females threw their arms into the sky, began chanting some form of incantation, and the golden sphere flew upwards. It descended right above the trio, and speedily spun around. From the black center of the orb, it fired out golden pellets, the pattern moving counter-clockwise toward the trio. The brothers and Cassie instantly shrunk their planes and rushed ahead of the attack, spinning around the pellets.

With a spark of light, the orb disappeared and the firing ceased. Hilda transformed from Gemini back into her zeppelin self. She gritted her teeth and huffed furiously at the trio. Hilda spitefully spat out laughter in a last-ditch effort to attack as the group kept firing. The amount of bullets that kept hitting Hilda was immense, causing her to become overwhelmed. She squeezed her eyelids shut, placing her hands on her temples. Hilda's limbs suddenly began to vigorously move...

...as she turned into a gigantic half-crescent moon.

Cassie gulped and tried not to look down at the ground as they ascended further into the sky. Everything looked so tiny from above. Feeling a slight hint of vertigo, she blinked her fear away and began to concentrate on fighting the humongous moon.

Hilda extended her neck, revealing what appeared to be gears and other assortments of metal. The moon cackled as various red and gold U.F.O.s flew high into the sky, shooting down beams of lasers toward the trio. Stars began to rain from the sky like hail.

Cassie pulled a lever, causing her plane to lurch in reverse, as a laser came toward her. She tried to move the aircraft as fast as she could, but the beam hit the nose of the plane. Smoke began to arise from the engine. Cassie anxiously huffed.

 _I swear, if I came this far for my plane to take a crap on me, I'm not going to be happy._

A button began to flash in Mugman's aircraft, causing him to switch his gaze from firing at Hilda to the spontaneous light. He placed a shaky hand over the button, slightly nervous about what was going to happen. He pressed the switch, watching as his airplane turned into a super bomb similar to Cuphead's. Mugman flew the bomb toward Hilda, watching her eyes widen as he came closer.

Another explosion rippled across the sky as the mug collided with her. Hilda's expression turned from one of perseverance to defeat; she appeared to be incredibly dizzy. The stars she had used to attack the trio began encircling her head as she morphed back to her normal self. Hilda grabbed her forehead with her right hand and began to gracefully descend to the ground below.

The trio looked at each other, exchanging slight smiles. They were starting to get the hang of this fighting thing.

Cassie began to laugh, mostly in relief that this was over. "We did it, guys! And nothing bad happened!"

The amount of smoke that had risen from her plane increased. Cassie felt the sweat began to trickle down the back of her neck. Cuphead and Mugman looked at her worriedly.

 _Uhh... I should probably land this plane..._

Cassie watched as a tiny flame popped like a piece of corn from the nose of the aircraft. The small fire erupted into a larger one, engulfing the entire plane. She sat as the craft that was in flames suddenly turned into ashes, fluttering in the air. Cassie simply stared ahead, placing her hand beside her, wanting desperately to feel the seat she had been sitting in for the past ten minutes. She slowly gulped, glancing down to see she was still in a seated position...

Except there was no seat.

Or airplane, for that matter.

Like a dark comedic moment in a cartoon, Cassie immediately went from sitting to falling out of the sky. She began to scream, flailing her arms as she heavily fell through the air like a rock. Cassie slammed her eyes shut, not wanting to see the ground get closer.

"CUPHEAD! MUGMAN! HELP ME!"

The two brothers quickly nosedived down, trying to get to Cassie faster. She opened her eyes and began to hyperventilate, seeing that she was falling faster than they were able to fly. Cassie speedily reached for her pencil in her back pocket, only to find it was empty.

Panicking, she gazed around the sky to see her bag falling slightly faster beside her. Cassie grabbed the bag, and happened to glance below her to see the utensil falling a few feet beneath.

Cassie maneuvered her body, her head more toward the ground. She made a swimming motion through the air, attempting to get to the pencil faster. Once Cassie thought she was close enough, she reached for it, feeling the wood brush her fingertips and push itself slightly away. _So close._ Cassie shimmied her torso forward, a small cry of frustration and fear escaping her lips. She stretched her hand further, seeing her palm right beside the utensil, hoping and wishing she could get it before she splatted on the ground.

Cassie snatched the pencil out of the air and practically cried tears of joy. She doodled what appeared to be a backpack on herself, but with a pretty obvious strap on its side. Cassie pulled the strap, a large parachute floating out of the pack. The wind caught the piece of cloth, slowing the terrified girl's descent. She clutched her bag of things and the pencil close to her chest, catching her shaky breathing. When Cassie got to the ground, she dropped the items in her arms and practically passed out, the adrenaline beginning to decrease. She just laid on the grass, watching the green blades wave in the wind.

 _First I get sucked through a book, then I get pulled through the ground by King Dice, and now this... what other shit is going to happen while I'm here?_

The sound of crying grabbed her attention. She looked up to see Hilda sitting near her in the grass, wiping her tears away. The toon pulled her knees up to her chest and glanced away from the girl. Cassie sat up, shifting herself closer to Hilda.

"Hilda-"

"Go away," she requested, trembling from her downpour of tears. Hilda pulled out a paper from her pocket and aggressively shoved it toward Cassie, the girl holding the parchment tightly in her hands.

"That's what you came here for, right? Well, you earned it. _Congratulations_ ," she seethed, staring at the ground. Cassie looked at her sadly.

"Ribby, Croaks, and The Root Pack are coordinating a meeting with all the debtors. They're going to be on Isle Three at dusk."

Hilda glanced at Cassie for a second, then returned her gaze to the ground, shifting her seating position, stretching out her legs.

"Thank you," she muttered, looking at the girl once more. Both of them stared at the red and blue planes as they landed on the ground, rolling a few feet in front of them. Cassie turned back to Hilda, but the toon had her head down and eyes closed. The girl began to walk away, the grass crunching sadly beneath her feet.

"I just... I thought he could have helped me, ya know? I wanted to be constellations instead of just being... a zeppelin," Hilda stated. Cassie turned back to her, knelt in front of the depressed toon, and wrapped her arms around her shoulders. Cassie felt slightly awkward at first initiating the embrace, but felt Hilda's arms wrap around her, almost searching for some form of comfort.

"I know, Hilda. But, we'll figure it out, okay?"

Cassie dropped her arms and looked at the toon in front of her. Hilda met Cassie's gaze and slowly nodded.

"I'll be at the meeting. Make no mistake about that."

Hilda stood up, brushed off the dirt that stained her knees, and began her walk back to the observatory. Cassie watched the woman's retreating figure, replaying the events of the battle in her head. She looked at the paper crinkled between her fingers and suddenly felt a sharp pain in her head. Cassie squeezed her eyes shut, placing a hand firmly on her forehead. This was worse than any migraine she had ever had.

"Heya, Cassie!" she heard someone exclaim. Cassie instantly knew it was Mugman.

The pain abruptly stopped, allowing Cassie to open her eyes. Not a moment later, the younger brother ran to her, embracing the stunned girl. Still kneeling on the ground, Cassie felt her torso fall slightly back due to the surprise hug. Accepting the fact that this was her second embrace in a few moments, she smiled and returned it.

Boy, was she glad to see them.

She felt the parchment in her hands be snatched away. Cassie looked up to see Cuphead putting the paper in his bag, along with the others. The two looked at each other as Mugman ceased his embrace.

"Cuphead, I really am-"

"You didn't mean to hurt us," Cuphead explained. Cassie smiled a little, opening up her arms to him. The cup slightly backed away, Mugman questionably looking at his brother.

"Sorry. I don't think I can entirely trust you. Not yet at least."

Cassie dropped her arms and nodded. Cuphead sadly smiled at her, then grimaced and clutched his leg. The adrenaline from the battle had calmed down, the pain from battling with Goopy returning with a vengeance.

"Cuphead? Are you okay?" Cassie asked.

"Yeah. I'm fine. Just- OW!"

The cup hissed in pain as Mugman shook his head.

"We fought Goopy a little while before you found us. He got hurt in that fight and _refuses to go back to Elder Kettle_ ," Mugman explained, emphasizing the last few words in annoyance.

"We're already running behind as it is!" Cuphead argued.

Cassie instantly reached in her bag and pulled out a bottle, still containing some of the pink liquid. She handed it to Cuphead, who suspiciously looked at her.

"Where did you get this? You didn't have this before."

 _Crap._

Not wanting to tell them she was with Dice, she needed to think of a lie, very quickly.

"I... actually saw Elder Kettle earlier. After my injury with Ribby and Croaks. He gave me the rest of that potion. Just in case we needed it."

Cuphead and Mugman looked at each other, the younger sibling smiling. He turned to Cassie.

"I believe you. After all, you just want to help Cuphead, right?"

The lie didn't sit well with her, causing Cassie's stomach to turn in uneasy anticipation.

"Right," she responded with a fake smile.

Cuphead's wary gaze went from the girl to the bottle grasped in his hand. He opened the cork and gulped down the rest of the potion, his leg almost instantly feeling better.

"Thanks," he replied, handing back the empty bottle. Cassie placed the container back into her bag, relieved he didn't pry her further.

"Where to now, fellas?" Cassie asked.

"Uhh, well, we were thinking about going to Cagney. He's the last of the debtors on this Isle," Mugman replied.

The throbbing in Cassie's head reappeared, causing her to wince and close her eyes once more. Mugman looked at her with concern.

"Are you alright, Cassie? Maybe my brother should have saved the rest of that potion," the younger brother remarked. Cuphead scoffed.

"I'm fine. Just have a really bad migraine coming on. Let's keep moving."

Cuphead nodded, then began to lead the way. Mugman watched Cassie open her eyes and noticed something was a little different.

 _Her eyes are green... Weren't they blue before?_

Cassie blinked, the hue of her irises changing back to the normal sapphire shade. Mugman slightly shook his head, thinking it was the possibly the change in lighting. The two began to follow the older brother, Cassie's thoughts flooding with how, or even _if_ , she was going to tell them she made a deal with King Dice.

* * *

"So... there will be a meeting on the Third Isle?" Cuphead asked as they made their way south.

"Yeah. At dusk. All, well, at least some of the debtors will be there. Everyone will be thinking of plans on how to take down the Devil and Dice," Cassie explained.

Mugman shifted slightly, gradually growing more uncomfortable. "I dunno, guys. A _revolt_? We already got ourselves into enough trouble. I kind of have a weird feeling about this."

Cuphead stopped and turned toward his brother, causing Mugman and Cassie to cease their walking as well. "C'mon, Mugs. If you got the chance to save your soul, wouldn't you take it?"

Mugman twisted the toe of his shoe into the grass, making a small indentation in the ground. "Yeah. I probably would... but what if this goes wrong? What'll happen then? I... I don't even want to think about what would happen if the Devil caught us."

Cassie put a reassuring hand on his shoulder. "I know how you feel. But, it's the only chance we have until midnight."

The boy sighed, and worriedly looked at Cassie. "You're right. I just wish things would have turned out different."

 _You and me both, buddy._

The trio continued walking until they came to a "Y" in the path. Cuphead stopped, turning to the rest of the party behind him, smiling.

"Cagney is to the left. At the rate we're going, we'll be done with the debtors in pretty good time."

"What's to the right?" Cassie asked.

"The mausoleum. The legendary chalice hangs out there sometimes," Mugman replied.

"What's the chalice like?"

"She kinda keeps to herself. Deals with magic and stuff. We're not really down that way," the younger brother explained.

Cassie looked toward the right path, slightly intrigued. Her ears perked up at a small sound, almost like someone was crying " _help_."

"Do you guys hear that?"

Cuphead sighed. "Cassie-"

"No, I'm serious. I hear someone calling for help."

The three were quiet, the only sounds evident were the occasional chirp of a bird and the wind gently brushing the branches of some trees, causing the leaves to crackle and sway. Cuphead groaned.

"This is wasting time, guys."

" _Help_!" the sound reappeared. It was slightly louder, but seemed as if it were still only a whisper. Cassie glanced at the boys, then ran down the right path.

"Cassie! Cassie wait up!" Mugman called out, following the girl as fast as he could.

Cuphead shook his head. "What am I going to do with those two?" he muttered to himself, then began to run after Mugman.

Cassie began to huff and heave as she sprinted to the marble building. She bent over and placed her hands on her thighs, trying to catch her breath. She mentally told herself to get a gym membership when she got out of this mess. Cassie glanced up at the structure. The mausoleum looked as if it were about to crumble on itself and turn into dust. She glanced at the wooden, rotting door to see it slightly ajar. "Help!" was cried out again, much louder this time.

"Cassie!" Mugman shouted. The girl whipped her head around, her caramel hair flying behind her. She watched as the brothers ran closer to her. She pointed toward the door.

"Whoever needs help is in here," Cassie responded. She walked toward the door and pushed it slightly inward. Cassie grimaced at the nasty creaking sound the wood made, watching as the movement pulled old cobwebs away from the doorframe. She wondered when the last time someone entered here.

Cassie gulped, also wondering _how long_ this distressed toon was in there.

She gently tapped the door with her foot to open it more, trying her best to ignore the squeal of protest it made. Cassie lead the way into the dark room, the cup and mug following slowly behind. She used her pencil to draw a flashlight as best as she could with it being practically pitch black, and turned the object on with a "click." Cassie pointed the light around, seeing nothing but cobwebs and urns.

This whole environment got a hundred times more unnerving.

"Help me!" the voice cried. It was slightly in front of them. Cassie immediately shone the light toward the direction of the sound, seeing an urn on a pedestal, wiggling around. She began to slowly move herself toward the exit, Cuphead and Mugman following her lead.

 _Okay... this is probably one of the creepiest things I've ever seen._

Cassie pivoted her body completely around and ran toward the door, only to have it slam in her face. She fell to the floor, absolutely startled. Cassie stood up and began pulling at the door handle, twisting it every direction it would go. Cuphead and Mugman began to pound on the door. Hoping someone, anyone, would hear them.

"Help! HELP!" Cassie shouted, pulling at the door handle once more. The stupid piece of wood wouldn't budge.

Cuphead stopped pounding on the door, and irritatingly turned toward Cassie. "Way to go, genius. Now, we're running out of even more time."

"Oh, shut up!" a new voice exclaimed. The group stopped dead in their tracks, and turned around. Cassie pointed the flashlight toward the voice to find a... pink ghost?

"I don't know whether to be afraid of you, or to think you are adorable," Cassie admitted relaxing a little bit. The ghost pouted and crossed its arms.

"You should be afraid, because we'll take the urn, and all the magic will be ours!"

"That's... probably not good," Mugman stated.

Suddenly, more pink ghosts began to appear, floating closer to the urn. The object quivered with fear, causing the lid to rattle. The chalice popped open the top a crack, only her eyes visible.

"Help me! Please! The ghosts can't get to me!"

"We're on it!" Cuphead affirmatively replied.

The brothers began to fire their finger guns at the spirits, but found their attacks to phase through the ghosts. Cuphead and Mugman looked at their hands in surprise as the beings laughed at them mockingly. Chalice completely popped back into the urn, the container wiggling more. Cassie gasped, coming to a realization.

"Guys! You have to parry them!"

The brothers looked at each other and nodded, then taking opposite sides of the urn. They began hopping on the ghosts, watching as the spirits disappeared with each parry. Cuphead and Mugman continued this routine of jumping and parrying until the last ghost vanished into thin air.

Cuphead opened the lid of the urn, fully releasing the chalice from her prison. She exited the capsule in the form of a glowing white orb. Cassie squinted her eyes, the sphere brightly illuminating the whole space. The orb transformed into a feminine ghost with a chalice for a head, her straw encircling the top of her head like a halo.

"Gosh! I don't know how to thank you boys for saving me! I was searching for magic and got trapped by those ghosts!"

The chalice shook her head with a chuckle and pointed a finger toward the boys. A beam of light shot out of her hand and completely surrounded the cup and mug. They gained a surge of new energy, hopped into the air, and removed their heads like they did with Elder Kettle before.

Cassie, once very startled by their actions, wasn't really surprised anymore.

"Speaking of magic... please accept this gift, it should help! There are other mausoleums around Inkwell Isle. I just wonder..."

The girl in the chalice's side vision broke her train of thought. The spirit turned toward her.

"You're Cassie, right?"

"Uhh, yeah?" she responded, very confused. "How did you-"

"Word spreads fast, girly. I heard about you two mugs and lady going to collect the soul contracts."

The chalice pointed toward Cassie. The twenty-two-year-old instantly slammed her eyes shut, afraid of what was going to happen next. A similar glow reappeared, enveloping Cassie. She felt... floaty; almost like she could jump away from the ground but and fly around the room. Cassie re-opened her eyes to see the light surrounding her slowly disappear.

"You're going to need some magic too. You guys have a long road ahead of you."

Curious, Cassie pulled out her pencil and began slowly doodling a circular shape. At first, there was a small spark of light around the drawing. The more she drew, the light grew larger. She pushed the shape, watching it drift toward the back wall. Cassie astonishingly saw the drawing collide with the surface, causing the entire room to shake. The light that engulfed the drawing broke away and spread around the space, the area illuminating once more. The chalice turned to Cassie and smiled.

"The longer you draw something, the more powerful the spell. If you stop, the light will go out, and you'll have to start over."

"Wow..." Cassie whispered, trying to wrap her mind around this new magic. She glanced to the chalice and smiled.

"Thank you."

The mausoleum began to wobble, causing the trio to be unsteady on their feet. A cracking sound filled the room, small pieces of marble fell from the ceiling and broke on impact with the floor.

"You need to get out of here," the chalice explained. With a snap of her fingers, the door that was sealed shut flew open wide. "This whole place is going to collapse!"

Cuphead, Mugman, and Cassie instantly sprinted toward the door, grateful to see the brilliant sunshine from outside. The chalice transformed back into the bright sphere she was before, quickly flew out the exit, and over toward the Second Isle. The trio turned around to see the building crumble like a game of Jenga, the old useless marble heaps laying on top of each other. Clouds from the ancient structure began to flood the air, causing the group to cough.

"Well. That worked out well," Cassie stated in-between wheezes. "And we have powers now. Aren't you glad we went this way, cuppy?"

Cuphead chuckled. "Alright, alright. You have good ideas... sometimes."

"Sometimes? I think you mean _all_ the time," she jokingly retorted.

The trio chuckled, Cassie thankful for the brighter atmosphere. She hadn't felt this way since before they fought Ribby and Croaks. Even though that was probably only an hour ago, it was one of the longest and stressful hours of her life.

"Off to Cagney?" Mugman asked. Cuphead nodded his head, leading the way once more. Cassie and Mugman followed close behind, ready to be finished with Isle One.

* * *

Cagney's garden lived on the edge of the Isle, right by a glittering dark blue ocean. The water sparkled in the midday sun, almost beckoning toons to come for a swim. Cassie admitted to herself that it did look rather inviting. She wouldn't have minded putting her ankles into the shallow part of the water and feel the sand dance around her feet.

But that would have to wait.

The three trudged closer to the flower bed, seeing its bounty of blossoms. Red, yellow, purple, blue... the amount of colors was overwhelming. At the opposite end was a giant flower with orange petals, timidly smiling at them as they came closer.

The group tip toed around the flowers, trying not to step on the fragile plants. Cagney's grin only got wider. He seemed... friendly? He wasn't attacking them, at least. They stopped in front of him, Cagney bashfully hid behind his leaves and giggled. Cassie turned to the boys, confused.

"Does he know why we're here?" she whispered.

His grin morphed into a frown as he released a scream, his jaw opening wide. Cagney crinkled his brows and a smile returned, but the grin was threatening instead of gentle. His leaves turned into arms as spikes appeared all over his stem.

"I'm going to take that as a yes!" Cuphead replied.

Three red platforms decorated with white polka-dots propelled themselves from the ground and floated at Cagney's eye-level. His head transformed into a Gatling gun, giving him the ability to shoot seeds up into the sky. The particles descended back into the garden and planted themselves snugly in the soil. Some of the seeds sprouted a vine, which budded a Toothy Terror that honed in on the group. Others grew a Toothy Terror right out of the soil, chomping at the trio's feet. Cassie jumped onto a platform, her shoe almost getting caught in the jaws of the horrifying plant on the ground.

"Mugman! Above you!" Cuphead shouted while shooting the Terrors.

The mug looked toward the sky to see a floating orange plant that flapped its leaves like a bird would with its wings. It shot out a pink seed; Mugman grinned. He parried the object, then shot the plant, causing it to poof away in a puff of smoke. He landed on the middle platform like an acrobat, continuing to smile at his actions. He was getting the hang of this fighting thing.

Cagney stopped firing seeds at the group, pulled his head back, and covered his face with his orange petals. Cuphead and Mugman jumped off the platforms to the ground, while Cassie stood on the furthest platform from Cagney, attempting to use some of the new magic given. She quickly began to draw a circle, not anticipating that the flower would launch his face toward her. Cagney knocked her off her feet, the buildup of her spell broken. She fell from the platform onto her bottom and winced at the hard impact. Cassie hoped her tailbone wasn't broken.

She stood up as quickly as she possibly could and ran over to meet the boys. Cuphead gave her a small look of concern, but she shook her head, cueing she was fine. Cagney clasped his hands together and re-opened them a few seconds later. Five acorns suddenly appeared in his hands, like some kind of magic trick. He launched the acorns toward the trio, causing them to jump onto the platforms above. Cagney brought his hands together again, this time releasing a sycamore seed in the direction of the group. In a panic, they jumped down to the soil once more, a little slower. Tiredness was starting to settle in.

"Man. Who knew that jumping would be so exhausting," Cassie quipped.

Mugman glanced slightly behind him, seeing the seed boomerang itself backward. He gasped.

"Guys! Look out!"

Cuphead and Cassie looked back, watching the sycamore seed speed toward them. On instinct, Cassie made a slashing motion with the pencil as the object came closer, a line drawn into the air. The seed collided with the line, cutting it completely in half. It fell sadly to the ground like a useless dead plant.

They turned their attention back to Cagney, who pulled the petals on the side of his head outward in frustration. He let out a screech as vines grew out from him. Cassie watched vines with spikes creep close to the first platform and wrap themselves onto the base of the flying contraption. She instantly grabbed the arms of the cup brothers and hopped up onto the middle platform, watching the vines circle around the platform behind them as well as the one they were standing on.

Seeing as they were slightly distracted, Cagney seized the opportunity to cough some dandelions toward them. Cassie realized what the attack was too late, and felt the puffy object collide with her. She was immediately dazed, her vision completely distorted. Cassie tried to focus on Cagney while also avoiding tripping over herself and falling toward the spiky vines on the ground. She pulled her pencil out and quickly drew a circle as best as she could, watching the light surrounding it grow brighter and larger. She pushed the doodle toward Cagney, stunning him for a moment. He shook his head and glared toward Cassie.

 _Uh oh._

Suddenly, a new vine appeared and wrapped around Cassie's torso. Cuphead and Mugman watched as Cagney lifted her high into the sky, and threw her toward the sea.

"CASSIE!"

She screamed as she flew in the air for the second time that day. Cassie sucked in a breath and shut her eyes as she made a hard impact with the water. Once she realized how far down the ocean she was, Cassie attempted to swim to the surface, but felt herself sinking fast; _very_ fast. She cursed herself for not being the best swimmer. Cassie clenched the pencil tightly in her palm, trying her very best to keep as much air as possible in her lungs. She panicked as her vision began to blacken, feeling the smallest bits of air escaping through her mouth as bubbles. Cassie stopped flailing in the water and closed her eyes, trying to conserve as much energy as she could in her weakened state.

She didn't know if she was dreaming or if it was truly happening, but Cassie felt arms wrap around her legs and torso, lifting her upward. She squinted as she looked toward the sky, seeing that the sun was coming closer. Cassie realized that she was going toward the surface. She gasped for air as she emerged out of the water, clenching onto the shoulders of her rescuer. Cassie coughed and sputtered the water that had entered her lungs, then rested her head on her savior's chest. Vision incredibly blurry, Cassie looked toward her hero, only making out a vague outline.

"T-thank you for saving me. I really owe you one," she stated, coughing once more. The water began to cool on her skin, causing her to shiver.

"No problem at all, doll-face. I think you owe me more than one thing, however."

Her eyes instantly shot wide at the sound of the voice.

 _No... it can't be._

Cassie immediately brought her head upright. With the back of her hands, she rubbed away the salt water that impacted her vision. Cassie mouthed the word "no" as she finally saw her "savior" was none other than Mr. Game'st-in-the-Land himself.

* * *

 **And there's Chapter 6! It'll probably be a bit before I have the next Chapter posted. Things are getting a little busy right now, but I'll have it up soon. Until next time!**

 **-TheLexTurtle**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys! This Chapter is considerably shorter than the last one, but I made sure that a LOT happens here.**

 **This story reached 20 favorites and 16 follows! Ahh! This is so exciting for me. I honestly didn't expect to get that many, so thank you all.**

 **Enjoy Chapter Seven!**

* * *

Cassie pushed herself out of Dice's arms, falling to the sand. The particles broke her fall and flew everywhere. She stood up and tried to wipe the grit from herself, but it stuck to her drenched clothing like Velcro. Cassie glared at Dice as she continued to brush her clothes, him smirking condescendingly at her.

"I thought you would have been thrilled to see me," he stated.

"If I had known you were the one saving me, I would have rather drowned."

Dice chuckled and walked closer to the girl. He put a finger around a strand of her damp hair and began to wrap it around. "You don't mean that. After all, who would do my favors for me?"

Cassie pushed his hand away, unravelling the hair that had began to coil. She turned away from him and crossed her arms. "Is it time?"

Dice gave only a chuckle in the back of his throat. "What do you think, Cassandra?"

She sighed and faced him again. "That's probably one of the reasons why you're here. Not only just to save your _pawn_."

"You're somewhat correct. I actually came to chat for a different reason."

Cassie only stared at him, puzzled by his answer. "What do you want?"

"From what I hear, you and the other debtors are planning a revolt."

Her face drained all of its color. "How the hell did-"

"I have my ways, Cassandra. I hear my _nickname_ around these parts is the 'Gawking Gamepiece.' I should live up to that name, no?" he teasingly stated.

"That doesn't mean spying on _me_ all the time. Don't you have better things to do? You are the Devil's right-hand-man."

"Well, about that."

Cassie turned her gaze toward the ocean, watching the tides wash in at her feet, then get pulled back toward the depths. "What do you mean?"

She heard Dice sigh. "After you left- well, escaped from my boss' office, he hasn't been in the best... _mood_ , to put it kindly. He wants your pencil, and he will stop at nothing to get it. He will destroy everything... and everyone."

Cassie looked over at Dice, who was also watching the waves. She looked at his eyes, his emerald orbs glancing from the waves to the girl. They looked back at her, not threateningly, but instead with concern and possible... fear, perhaps? He blinked, the emotion in his eyes gone. Cassie shook her head, thinking she was likely overanalyzing everything.

"What's your point about the revolt, then? Do you want to take us down?"

Dice smirked. "Actually, it's the exact opposite, my dear. I want to be a part of it."

Cassie felt herself take a step back. That was **NOT** the answer she was expecting. The utter surprise she felt suddenly changed into giggles.

"You? King Dice? Ha! That's a laugh. Okay, good one. You got me there."

"I'm serious, Cassie."

Her laughing stopped at the sound of her name; her _shortened_ name. He always just called her "Cassandra," "doll-face" or whatever other stupid name he had up his sleeve. Dice hadn't called her by that before.

"Y-you are serious. Oh lord. The others won't be too happy if you are a part of this. Scratch that, they'll hate that you're a part of this," Cassie rambled, slapping a hand to her forehead. Her shoulders slightly shrugged at the familiar feeling of him arm wrapping around them.

"Think of me as an... asset to the team. I'll bring my magic, and with the twenty or so of us, we have a chance. What do you say?"

"An asset, huh? More like just an ass..." Cassie muttered to herself, glancing to the sand beneath her shoes. After weighing her options, she looked back to Dice. "My answer is no."

"Suit yourself. You know where to find me if you change your mind."

Dice removed his arm and turned away from the girl, like he was about to leave, then immediately spun back around to face her.

"I almost forgot something."

He snatched her hand and placed his palm hard against hers. A bright light emanated from between their hands. Cassie wanted to scream, but ended up biting her tongue down instead. It hurt; _badly_. He pulled his hand away and watched Cassie shake hers.

"What the heck was that?! Everything you give me hurts!"

"I saw the chalice give you some of her magic. I figured I would give you some of mine."

"Why? I thought you loved to hoard your magic."

He chuckled at her comment. "Two reasons. One, that fight you put up with Cagney back there was pretty pitiful. I figured you needed some extra... assistance."

She scoffed at him. "Gee. Thanks."

"Two, I told you before that I do see some potential in you. This is magic you can actually master yourself, so that you don't have to rely on that _foolish_ pencil constantly."

Cassie looked at her hand and pointed it toward the ocean, seeing a ball of light burst out of it and collide with the water, a large splash arose from the impact. She suddenly felt light-headed and her knees give out. Cassie felt someone, she assumed it was Dice, grab her by the shoulders and bring her upright.

"Heh, I failed to mention that this isn't like the magic that old tea-set gave the kiddos, unlimited bullets to shoot recklessly. Magic this powerful needs a power source, and guess what? That's you. You'll be weaker after using it, so aim carefully."

Cassie opened her eyes to see him still standing in front of her. She felt her strength come back, and pushed his hands gently away. She looked back to the ocean, and slowly sat into the sand. Cassie thought that Dice was just a jerk before. Now, she didn't know what to think. She didn't know whether he was being genuinely nice to her, or if there was some other motive behind all this.

Either way, he was still an asshole.

"Thanks, I guess."

She felt him grab her hand, open it, put something in her palm, and clasp it shut. Cassie brought her hand in front of her, loosened the grip on her fingers, and found in her palm a pink seashell.

"Why did you give this to me?"

Dice casually adjusted his bow tie. "To prove that everything I give you doesn't cause pain. Besides, I figured such a pretty shell should belong to such a pretty girl."

She felt the warmth of a blush come to her cheeks. "I don't like pink."

"Such a shame. You wear it so well on your face."

Her cheeks turned into a deeper hue of rose as he descended into the ground, leaving her alone once again. She stared at the shell, feeling its grooves with her thumb. Realizing she was spending too much time looking at this "gift," Cassie sighed and facepalmed.

 _What have I gotten myself into?_

"Cassie! There you are!"

She turned her head to the right, seeing Cuphead and Mugman run straight toward her from the edge of the beach. Cassie dropped the shell in the sand and ran toward the cup brothers, more grit getting into her shoes with each step.

"We were looking for you everywhere! We were worried you drowned in the ocean!" Mugman explained.

"I'm fine! I just got in the water a little. I swam to shore," Cassie lied, mentally slapping herself.

 _I've got to stop fibbing to them._

"Did you guys get the soul contract?"

Cuphead pulled out a paper that read "Cagney Carnation" in red lettering. "We got it not long after he threw you to the beach."

She looked at the contract, sighed, and shook her head. The lies were beginning to eat her up inside. "Guys, there's something I need to tell you-"

"Wait. What's happening over there?" Cuphead asked, pointing at the western portion of the Isle. Cassie and Mugman followed their gaze beyond the cup's finger.

The sky was completely grey, but not due to clouds. It was almost as if someone took an eraser and removed the blue hue of the sky, leaving it as a soulless, dark entity. Cassie looked toward the grass and saw the same thing with the blades; grey, empty, unmoving. She ducked as a red bird flew overhead, a little closer to them than she would have liked. Cassie saw it land in the grass a few feet away from the enveloping grey-ness, then watched the hue envelop the animal, stripping it of its crimson shade, and replacing it with grey. The bird froze, suddenly lifeless, like it was a statue.

Her heart began to beat faster as she saw the dark color move toward them.

 _This is not good!_

On instinct, Cassie grabbed the hands of Cuphead and Mugman and began to sprint. She felt beads of sweat drip down her neck, her adrenaline kicking in. Mugman looked back as he ran, horrified to see the grey enveloping where they stood before.

"Guys! It's getting closer!"

"Up ahead! The Die House!" Cuphead shouted, pointing with his free hand.

"Wait! King Dice is in there! He can't find Cassie!" Mugman stated, slightly out of breath. "We have to go somewhere else!"

"There's no time! That's our only shot to getting out of here!" Cassie explained.

Cuphead tripped over a rock slightly sticking out of the ground, his hand slipping out of Cassie's. He tried to stand as quickly as possible, seeing the grey mere feet behind him. He lost his balance and fell to the grass again, terrified as he watched everything around him lose their hues. Cuphead closed his eyes, anticipating the feeling of being a frozen, empty toon.

He wasn't expecting a rope to be lassoed around his wrist and pull him forward.

He opened his eyes to see Cassie and Mugman pulling the rope with their open hands, reeling him in like a caught fish. Once Cuphead was close enough, Cassie removed the rope she had drawn and grabbed his hand, holding it a little tighter this time. As a giant red building with different numbered dots on each side came into view, they began to run a little faster. Almost like it was magic, the door on the front of the structure opened up on its own, beckoning the three travelers inside. The cups and girl practically leapt into the door, landing hard on the checkered floor. Cuphead instantly stood up, seeing the door still wide open. He slammed the door shut and placed his entire body weight onto the wooden surface, feeling pressure from the other side.

"Guys! HELP ME!"

Cassie and Mugman got onto their feet, pushing all their might onto the door. Cassie instantly got flashbacks to the Devil, how terrified she was when trying to escape.

How he grabbed her wrist and left those painful marks.

How she nearly got pulled back into Hell.

Cassie looked up and saw the grey start to slowly seep into the edges of the doorframe. Horrified, she shoved the boys out of the way, trying to at least save them.

"Get out of here!" she shouted, pressing her shoulder against the door. It felt like it would burst open any moment.

"Cassie, we can't leave without you! We just found you again!" Mugman shouted. Cassie looked up at the grey, then to her hand. She had an idea, but if it didn't work... at least _they_ would be okay.

"Mugman, I said go! Don't worry about me!"

Cuphead and Mugman glanced at each other, then nodded. They both went back toward the door and began pushing on it again, Cassie looking at them startled.

"What are you guys doing?!"

"Helping you!" Cuphead explained. "Friends don't let other friends get swallowed up by whatever this is."

Cassie's eyes widened as the grey slowly kept coming in, creeping up the wall like a spiderweb. With not enough time to draw something, she quickly pointed her hand toward the doorframe and watched a giant ball of light emerge. The orb was blinding, causing the trio to shield their eyes. It flew toward the grey and crashed into it, almost acting as a neutralizer. The color ceased flowing into the doorframe, staining itself onto the beige wall. The pressure from the other side suddenly stopped; it seemed that whatever was trying to get in suddenly disappeared. Like she had done with the previous door she escaped from, Cassie drew a lock onto the handle.

Then another near the top of the door.

And another at the bottom.

Cassie pressed her back to the door and slid down, her energy spent, many thoughts flooding her mind.

 _That didn't happen in the book... I'm the thing that's changing the story... is this all my fault?_

She weakly looked at Cuphead and Mugman, who gazed back at her worriedly.

"Neither of you enter this door without my permission. Understand?" she sternly requested.

"Cassie-" Cuphead began, but she put a hand up.

"I'm sorry that I sound like a naggy parent, but I have no freaking idea what that was. It's probably really dangerous and I... care about you guys. I don't want you to get hurt."

Cuphead placed a hand on Cassie's shoulder. "I wasn't going to argue with you. I was going to thank you. For saving me back there."

She smiled at him, placing a hand over top of his. "Hey. We may bicker, but I won't leave you behind."

Cassie's adrenaline levels rapidly declined, quickly tiring her out. Her eyelids fluttered and she suddenly felt dazed. She placed a hand onto her forehead.

 _Who knew that attack would use so much energy?_

"You okay, Cassie?" Cuphead asked.

"Yeah. I'm dizzy. Tired, ya know?" she fibbed. The boldness to tell them about Dice disappeared. Cassie felt guilty lying to them... _again._

Her pupils shrank at the sudden light that entered the room. She didn't realize how dark it was before. Cassie looked over the shoulders of the brothers to see a figure rise from the floor a few feet in front of them. The lanky toon spun completely around, the coattails on the suit it wore swooping to the side. It stood tall and proud in front of the trio. Cuphead and Mugman glared at the toon as it grinned intimidatingly back at them.

"King Dice," Cuphead acknowledged.

"Well, well. If it ain't the Cup and Mug-faces," he stated. Dice glanced to the girl sitting on the floor behind the two brothers, giving him a deer-in-the-headlights look. He only smirked at her.

"Who is this _lovely_ lass? I don't believe we've met."

Ignoring the "lovely" comment, Cassie mentally thanked Dice for not bringing up the fact they know each other. She slowly stood up, her legs still slightly wobbly, and ungracefully walked over to the toon.

"I'm Cassie," she stated, trying to act as naturally as possible. She held out her hand and watched as Dice grabbed it, shaking it up and down slightly.

 _Who knew re-introducing yourself to a guy... well, die, you made a deal with would be so damn awkward..._

"King Dice is the name, doll. Don't forget it, now," he stated, squeezing her hand a little harder.

She stared at his menacing eyes, anger beginning to appear in her sapphire ones. "Believe me, I don't think I will."

Cassie ripped her hand out from his grasp, forcefully putting it back at her side. Dice turned his gaze from her to the brothers, who were looking at him annoyedly.

"Can we go now? We don't have all day, ya know," Cuphead impatiently informed, while pulling the contracts out of his bag. King Dice eagerly grabbed them, looking at the names on each parchment. He handed the stack of papers back to Cuphead and smiled. Cassie cringed; his grin seemed almost fake.

"Well, ain't that a pip! Looks like you really put the kibosh on them debtors!"

 _Kibosh? What the hell is that? Isn't that food on a stick?_

"You can head on over to the next Isle!" King Dice exclaimed.

Cuphead and Mugman lead the way to the exit while Cassie followed behind. She felt a hand placed firmly on her shoulder and heard the "snap" of two fingers. Cassie gasped as she saw the brothers trapped in place. It was almost as if they were frozen in time. She turned around to face Dice, abruptly shoving his hand away.

"Why did you do that?" Cassie asked, irritation hovering in her tone.

"I needed to have a conversation with you. They won't even know that this chat happened," Dice began to explain, walking slowly away from Cassie. "You're welcome, by the way. It was _very_ tempting to explain to them that we know each other."

"You better not."

"Or you'll do what, my dear?" he inquired, turning his head slightly to face her. She huffed at his cocky gaze.

"What do you want? We have more contracts to collect. You're wasting our time."

"Well, consider this the first of my favors," Dice started, spinning around again.

 _Oh God. What now?_

Dice gestured her to follow him, leading her to one of the windows facing Isle One. He pointed to the outside.

"Do you see what happened out there?"

"Yeah. Cuphead, Mugman, and I were running from that grey stuff. I don't know what it is."

"I'm... not sure either," Dice admitted. Cassie looked at him surprised as he continued. "It appears that it was done by some pretty powerful magic."

"Your point?"

"I want you to find the source of this power."

She scoffed. "Why? So you can have it?"

Dice smirked and placed a hand delicately under her chin. "This beauty certainly does have some brains."

"Fine. Just... stop being all flirty. It's weird," Cassie requested, pushing him away. She turned around in an attempt to hide the blush that threatened to appear on her face. She crossed her arms and pulled her shoulders up. She _hated_ him, but why, oh why was he making her feel like this?...

"I can't make that promise, doll-face."

She groaned and squeezed her eyes shut. This was getting annoying. _What a sleaze..._

"Also," Dice began, capturing her attention once more. "kibosh means to put an end to something. You were thinking of a kabob."

"Ohhh. Okay... Wait. How did you-?!"

Before she could finish her sentence, he snapped his fingers again and disappeared into the checkered floor. She looked at Cuphead and Mugman, watching them as they began walking toward the door, like someone had pressed "play" on a movie that was paused.

Like nothing had ever happened.

Cuphead opened the door to Isle Two, Mugman beginning to make his way out to the cheery outdoors. It was a happier scenery than what Isle One turned out to be. Cassie stared down at the floor, seeing she stood perfectly in the middle of a black piece of tile. Fitting. She was a pawn in this "game" Dice was playing, and here she was right on a floor identical to that of a chess board.

Checkmate.

"Cassie, you comin'?" Cuphead asked, Cassie looked up at him and Mugman.

"Yeah, I just..." she began, taking her gaze back toward the window to Isle One. She wondered if the others made it out okay. She wondered if the revolt would even still be happening if they were stuck there...

She wondered if they were even still alive.

Cassie suddenly felt a wave of courage wash over her. She wasn't sure if she really felt brave or if she was just exhausted and thinking mindless thoughts, but she was determined to make this revolt happen or die trying.

"I hope you're okay, guys. We'll save you," Cassie whispered toward the window. She turned to face Cuphead and Mugman, wishing the events on Isle Two would turn out slightly different than on the first one.

"Alright, fellas. Let's do this thing."

The brothers smirked at each other, then looked to Cassie, seeing her wear a slight grin of her own. Cuphead held out a hand, palm facing down, in-between them all. Mugman placed his on top of Cuphead's, followed by Cassie.

"Guys, let's get ready for some swell battles!" Cuphead exclaimed.

* * *

 **That's the official end of Isle One! It only took seven Chapters. Haha. Thanks for checking out this part! Be sure to R &R. See you soon, everyone!**

 **-TheLexTurtle**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys! This Chapter is posted a little later than I wanted it to be. Things in my life quickly sprung up, making it a little harder to find time to write.**

 **I have another FanFiction idea that I'm probably going to get started pretty soon, so my updates on this may be a little longer than they have been. I apologize for that in advance. I have no intentions of discontinuing this at all though, especially since I recently sat down and plotted out most of the remainder of this story.**

 **Anyway, enough of my rambling. Here's Chapter Eight!**

* * *

The three walked out of the Die House, on edge and nervous. The whole grey magic thing threw the group for a loop, causing them to be on their toes. Cassie walked over to the edge of the Isle and looked back toward the first one. The grey seemed to have stopped at the cliffs of Isle One, not daring to cross the water over to Isle Two. Cassie cocked her head at the sight.

 _Huh. That's strange. I thought the grey would have just kept moving. At least, until it covered all of Inkwell Isle._

"Guys, hang on! Thank the stars I caught up with you!" a familiar, older voice exclaimed. The three turned their heads to the source and smiled.

"Elder Kettle!" they exclaimed.

"You made it out okay!" Cuphead shouted.

The brothers practically ran to the kettle and embraced him. Cassie stood a little ways back, letting the three of them enjoy their little reunion. After a moment, they released the hug and grinned at one another.

"I believe I've found a way out of this mess you're in," the kettle continued.

"Hot dawg! You have?!" Cuphead asked, a hint of happy surprise in his tone.

 _Hot dawg? I don't think there is a phrase more 1930s than that._

"Your strength is growing! You'll soon be a match for that no-good King Dice... and maybe even the Devil himself!"

Cuphead and Mugman looked at each other, aghast. "Do you really think so, Elder Kettle?" the younger sibling inquired.

"I do! But you'll never get close to the Devil unless you already have those soul contracts in hand. Only then will you get a chance to turn the tables on that fiend. So, when that time comes, do the right thing!"

Elder Kettle looked over the shoulders of the boys, seeing Cassie smile at him. He grinned back.

"Long time no see, Cassie."

She simply nodded. The elder turned his gaze back to the kids.

"Well, I suppose you should get back to it. I'll be around if ya need me."

Elder Kettle patted the boys on the rims of their heads, then walked past Cassie toward the Ferris wheel. She watched him shuffle away, wishing he could stay around a few minutes longer. He was a light in this dark situation.

"Does the Baroness sounds good to you, Cuphead? I think she should be the first one we see on this Isle," Mugman suggested, breaking Cassie's train of thought. She shook her head and strolled over to the boys.

"Sure. Or Beppi the Clown. I don't think it really matters where we start this time."

 _Beppi_. Cassie cringed at the name, her phobia of clowns resurfacing. She despised that part of the story, always making her mother skip it as a child. Even re-reading it as an adult made her anxious.

"Uhh, yeah. I... think I'm going to sit out this one," Cassie stated, slowly backing away.

"What? Why?" Mugman asked.

"Well, you see, I don't have many fears. But the ones I do have make me absolutely terrified," she explained, beginning to count them on her fingers. "Let's see. There's sharks, tornadoes, snakes-"

"Clowns. You hate clowns," Cuphead interrupted.

Cassie sheepishly grinned. "You guessed right."

Mugman knowingly smiled. "That's okay. I suppose it wouldn't hurt if you didn't fight this one."

She grinned at Mugman. "Thanks, Mugs."

The younger brother beamed at her, then glanced to his sibling. "You ready?"

"To get the contract, yes. To fight a clown, not really."

Cassie watched the siblings walk toward the rickety roller coaster on the southeastern edge of the Isle. She walked toward a bench and sat on the hard, wooden surface, waiting for them to come back. Cassie closed her eyes and leaned on the back of the bench. This was the first time in a while that she was alone. No cup and mug, no other debtors, no _Dice_.

Just her.

"Mind if I sit beside you?"

She groaned internally at the voice, just wanting some peace to herself. Cassie immediately stifled the feeling, seeing that the asker was Elder Kettle. She smiled at him.

"Not at all. You make for some pretty nice company."

He grinned back, huffing as he sat on the bench. She heard some of his porcelain rattle as he sat down; Cassie figured it was the equivalent to brittle bones when people got older.

"Are you feeling okay?" she asked.

"Oh yes. Just not as young and chipper as I used to be."

"I feel that way now, and I'm only twenty-two."

Elder Kettle and Cassie shared a laugh, looking at the blue sky above them. She turned back to the kettle, him still looking at the atmosphere. Cassie twiddled her thumbs, having questions that she wasn't sure she really wanted to know the answers to. He met her gaze.

"Are you alright, Cassie?"

"Hm? Oh. Yeah. I'm fine." she quickly responded, rather thrown off by his sudden question. "Why do you ask?"

"You just seem rather pensive."

Words did not describe how much she wanted to spill everything. The deal she made with Dice, how uncomfortable she felt about him watching her every move, the weird grey magic... Cassie opened her mouth, then abruptly shut it, terrified of the words that would potentially come tumbling out. Once she spoke about her problems, they would officially become more than in her head. They would be _real_.

And that petrified the hell out of her.

She turned away from the kettle, crossing her arms.

"I'm fine, really."

He sighed, then looked back to the puffy clouds. "If you say so."

She joined him in staring at the sky, watching the various wisps of clouds float high in the air. That silence that she wanted before was turning the atmosphere from a calm to an awkward one.

"How did you get over here when the grey was eating up the Isle? You live on the complete opposite side from this one," Cassie asked.

Elder Kettle popped off the top of his lid, a familiar object flying out - his pencil. It flew in the air, then fell gracefully into his palm. The kettle held it gently in his hand.

"The same way that you escaped from the Devil; I drew a door here."

Cassie turned her solemn gaze to the ground. "And the others? What happened to them?"

"I... haven't seen them here."

Her heart sank. More than likely, they were trapped there. She felt terrible. She promised them their happy ending, and now this?... Cassie didn't know what to think.

She suddenly had an idea and snapped her fingers. "Why don't we draw a door and get to them! That's a possibility, right?"

Elder Kettle shook his head. "The magic appears to be feeding off of color. I'm afraid that if we go over there, we will be putting ourselves in more danger."

"So... we can't go back?"

"No. Not right now, at least."

 _Well, shit._

He saw the distressed look on her face, and put a comforting arm around Cassie's shoulders. "Things may look iffy right now, but it'll all turn out okay in the end."

The way Elder Kettle stated that sentence reminded Cassie of a scene in "Beauty and the Beast," a movie she hadn't seen since she was a little girl, but it was one Cassie was obsessed with. She got flashbacks of the advice Mrs. Potts gave to Belle, after the heroine thought everything was hopeless.

 _"_ _Cheer up, child. Everything will turn out alright in the end. You'll see."_

Cassie blinked, coming to a realization. Maybe there was more to magic than just spells, and stuff.

Maybe _hope_ was the greatest magic in certain situations.

She furrowed her brows, feeling a warm sensation from her back pocket; the same one her pencil resided in. Cassie quickly stood and pulled out the utensil, it stinging her hand slightly. The warmth subsided as the pencil came into her view. Upon inspection, she noticed that it was slightly different. Instead of being a navy hue, it was more aqua.

"Uhh, Elder Kettle, my pencil used to be a darker shade of blue."

The kettle held out his hand, and watched Cassie place the pencil into his palm. He turned the utensil around in multiple directions, looking at it from the eraser to the lead tip.

"I'm honestly not quite sure. My best guess is that your pencil is starting to run out of magic."

"Great. Just great," she sarcastically muttered.

"It appears that there is still quite a bit of power left in it, just don't use it all willy-nilly. I would hate for you to be magic-less in a really big fight."

Cassie slightly shrunk back and sighed as he handed her pencil back. Cassie twiddled the object in her fingers, then looked to her free hand.

 _I have one magic source that is running out, and another that gains its power from me. Fan-freaking-tastic._

Elder Kettle gripped the handle of his cane as he slowly stood. His eyes narrowed; it appeared he was attempting to concentrate on something.

"Do you hear that?" he asked.

Cassie began to intently listen, blocking out all other distractions. After a moment, there came some shouting.

"Help! Help!"

Boy, that sure sounded like...

"Mugman?" Cassie questioned out loud, looking to the elder. "Is that him?"

"It definitely sounds like him," he replied.

"Oh gosh. They're in trouble," Cassie stated, beginning to walk in the direction of his calls. She suddenly stopped, then slowly turned to the kettle.

"They're still fighting Beppi, aren't they?"

"That's the only debtor down that way."

"That's what I was afraid of."

Cassie gritted her teeth and exhaled. On a scale of one to ten of how much she did not want to fight a clown, the number was at about fifty-four. But she had to help the boys. She gave Elder Kettle a final nod of thanks, tightly gripped her pencil, and ran toward the rickety roller coaster on the edge of the Isle.

"Cuphead, Mugman, I will end you if this doesn't go well."

* * *

The first bit of the fight with Beppi was actually going rather well. The clown started off in a bumper car, purposefully driving the contraption close to the boys to intimidate them. Wooden ducks with targets in their centers were raised and lowered by poles, mimicking a shooting gallery. Cuphead shot a yellow one, watching some shards of wood fly off, the duck spinning around and around on its pole. He looked over to Beppi, who grinned at him maniacally, and began to reverse his bumper car.

"Mugman, he's going to charge! We have to jump!"

The brothers hopped over Beppi as he zoomed toward them. The clown hit the edge of the track with the car, causing him to fly out of the vehicle and fall below. Cuphead and Mugman ran to the side and looked down, but Beppi was nowhere to be seen.

"Where did he go?" Cuphead asked aloud, turning to his brother. Mugman looked at his brother, then his gaze shifted over Cuphead's shoulder. Mugman's pupils shrank and he pointed behind his brother.

"Watch out!"

Cuphead quickly turned his head to see a roller coaster car speed on the track. The two jumped in the nick of time and landed hard on their feet in the car. They both winced; their knees would definitely be sore later.

The brothers looked to the side of the track to see Beppi reappear, like a crappy magic trick. He floated upward, his head noticeably thinner than it was before. Around him were what appeared to be pumps of some kind, all connected to one another. Beppi's head suddenly inflated to its full capacity, the pumps surrounding him blew out balloons in the shape of dogs.

The balloons growled and gashed their teeth at the brothers, floating themselves toward them.

"Yikes. They don't look too friendly, Cuphead," Mugman noted.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of it."

Cuphead began to fire at the dogs, them popping upon impact with the bullets. They started to run along the coaster car, firing at both Beppi and the balloons that kept coming out.

"Look out for the dummies sitting in the seats!" the older brother advised. Mugman nodded in affirmation, the two hopping over the obstacles. Cuphead felt slightly uncomfortable at the sight of them. They had exes for eyes and grinned with pointy teeth.

He hopped over one of the last few sets of dummies, but was getting cocky. Cuphead's foot grazed one of the dummies, causing him to trip. He fell with a thud onto the coaster car. Cuffs surrounded his wrists, pinning him to the floor of the car. Cuphead pulled his arms and hands quickly in every direction, but they wouldn't budge. He was stuck.

"Mugman! I'm trapped!"

"What?" he shouted back, not paying attention to where he was running. "Oof!"

Mugman ran into the next set of dummies, causing him to stumble. He twisted his body around to face Cuphead as he unsteadily fell to the floor of the car. Like with his brother, cuffs wrapped around Mugman's wrists.

"Oh gosh. This is really, really bad." Mugman shakily stated, beginning to slightly panic.

"Ya think, Captain Obvious?" Cuphead annoyedly retorted.

Mugman nervously glanced around as the coaster car carried them further along the track, Beppi cackling at the as they went. The track sloped downward steeply, the boys yelling in fear as the car followed its path, gaining immense speed as it did so.

"Help! HELP!" Mugman yelled out.

Cuphead rolled his eyes. "Nobody can hear you. We're stuck!"

"It's at least worth a shot," he spat. "HELP! HELP!"

They felt their bodies being pulled downward by gravity as the car climbed up a hill on the track. It turned a corner, and saw Beppi again, who was still laughing at them.

"Your screams for help will do you no good here, kiddo. I guess you could say you've been CUP-tured!"

"Hey! Leave them alone!" a shaky voice cried out.

Beppi turned his head to the left, seeing a girl climb up the wooden track. Before Cuphead or Mugman could determine who it was, the car went down the steep slope again, the brothers screaming the entire way down. The clown smirked at her.

"Well, well. It looks like someone new has joined in on the fun. What's your name, kid?"

"Cassie," she responded as confidently as she could.

"Well, Cassie, it's time for you to join in on the _fun_."

The pumps resumed inflating dogs, which chased after the terrified girl. Instead of drawing something, she decided to try using the sharp tip of her pencil to pop them. She cringed as they exploded, despising the loud sound of air escaping. Cassie noticed the coaster car making its trip back, heading straight toward her. She sighed in relief upon seeing Cuphead and Mugman, but it soon turned into nervousness as she saw they were trapped.

 _Well, at least I found them, I guess._

She jumped onto the car and ran across it, attempting to stay near Beppi. Cassie attempted to hop over Cuphead and Mugman, but ended up stepping on the older brother's fingers.

"Ow! Watch it!"

"Sorry."

"Cassie! I'm glad you're here!" Mugman exclaimed.

She smiled at him, then continued her way along the car. Cassie looked up at the clown, him staring straight at her. How long had he been watching her, unblinking, she didn't know. Honestly, she didn't really want to know.

Cassie watched the balloon dogs fly toward her, getting a quick, reckless plan. She hopped from the car onto one of the dog's heads, then another, and another, until she made it up to Beppi. Cassie thrust the pencil into his head, creating a hole. He screamed as the air seeping out propelled him high into the sky. Cassie watched him fly until he was out of sight.

"Well. That takes care of that."

She didn't anticipate the feeling of something very, very hard hit the back of her head. Caught off guard, she fell onto her knees, the wooden track beneath her not breaking her descent very well. She grimaced at the pain. With hazy vision, she turned to see none other than Beppi, riding a golden horse.

"What the-!?"

"You can't get rid of me so easily! After all, we're only _clowning_ around!"

Cassie groaned. That was a really bad pun. She looked up to see horseshoes float toward her from the other direction. Cassie saw an opening between two of them, and barrel rolled over as the "C" shaped pieces of metal came crashing toward the track. Beppi began to cackle at her as he rose upward with his horse. She glared at him.

 _Oh no you don't._

She pointed her hand at Beppi, a ball of light shooting out. It smashed into the clown, his laughter turning into crying. Beppi bent over backwards on the equine, throwing a massive fit. He fell off the horse and again to the track below. Cassie watched the horse quickly rise upward, and felt a hint of disorientation come on, but not as badly like before. She smirked, realizing maybe her body was getting used to using that attack.

The smile quickly morphed into a frown. She realized she was becoming more like Dice by using the ability he gave her.

That thought made her incredibly uncomfortable.

A cackle filled the air as Beppi returned, not really surprising Cassie anymore. He appeared as a gigantic chair swing, platforms coming down from above.

She looked to the right, seeing the coaster car come careening toward her, much faster than it did before. Cassie scrambled to the top of a platform, gripping onto it for dear life. She heard the screams of terror com from the boys; they were obviously very surprised at the sudden change in speed. Cassie looked to the clown, seeing him grit his teeth at her in frustration. He opened his mouth, letting four green, tiny clowns emerge.

 _Great. More freaking clowns._

They eyed Cassie and menacingly smirked. The clowns started pulling out baseballs and threw them at the girl. She began hopping from platform to platform, hoping that one of the balls wouldn't hit her. Cassie pulled out her pencil and speedily sketched a baseball bat. She swung the drawing at an incoming ball, watching the sphere hit its owner. The clown disappeared in a puff of smoke, the other clowns looked at one another anxiously.

"Hah! Anyone else want to try to throw a ball at me?"

Before any of them could respond, the coaster car returned, running over the three remaining clowns on the track. Cassie's eyes widened. She wasn't anticipating that.

She felt the pencil in her hand become warm again. Cassie stared at it, watching the utensil turn a lighter shade of blue.

 _With the number of debtors left, I can't rely on this like I did before. Shit._

Having no other choice, Cassie pointed her hand toward Beppi once more, and closed her eyes as the light emerged from her hand. It collided with the chair swing, causing it to break. Cassie lost her balance on the platform she stood on, it warbling beneath her. She looked to Beppi, seeing the entire structure begin to fall. Cassie quickly jumped off the platform, as the clown tumbled to the depths below again. She sat on the track, feeling a little more weak. It was the first time she had used Dice's power twice in a short amount of time.

Cassie looked over to the right, seeing the coaster car approach slowly toward her. It stopped slightly before where she sat. Curious, she approached the car, seeing the boys being released from their prison. The cuffs around their wrists disappeared, allowing them to stand up fully. Cuphead's face gained a slight hue of green, slightly nauseous from the ride around the track.

"I think I'm gonna be sick..." the cup muttered.

Mugman looked around, puzzled. "Where did Beppi go?"

"Huh. There's no sign of him. I guess we... won?" Cuphead surmised, shrugging his shoulders in bewilderment.

Cassie's eyesight shifted toward a paper in the air. It slowly made its way down toward her, gingerly floating in pockets of air. When it was close enough, she reached out and grabbed the parchment, reading the familiar lettering of a soul contract.

What was new, however, were the scribbled letters in the bottom right-hand corner that said "TURN OVER." Confused, Cassie flipped over the paper and read the message. The handwriting was a complete mess, and it took her a couple times of going over it to understand what Beppi was saying.

"I heard rumors about a revolt, kiddo. Count me in. But if this goes bad, the whole ordeal will be REVOLT-ing."

Cassie scoffed at the pun, then glanced to the boys. She held up the contract with a grin.

"We've got another debtor joining us."

Cuphead and Mugman smiled and nodded. She handed the contract to the cup and the three began to make their way down the track. Cassie instantly felt relieved that this battle was done. She faced her fear of clowns... and won.

 _"_ _Well done, doll. You seem to be getting the hang of your abilities. I congratulate ya."_

Cassie looked around, trying to find the voice. It sounded like Dice, but he was nowhere to be seen. She bit her bottom lip, the antsy feeling she had when they left the Die House reappeared.

* * *

 **And that's that! Be sure to R &R! Until next time, everyone!**

 **-TheLexTurtle**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey, guys! I'm really, really sorry this Chapter took so unbelievably long. This past semester of college was notoriously the most difficult one of my program, and I haven't really had the opportunity to write for fun except for here and there. My break has also been quite busy, but I wanted to upload once before the New Year. I want to have another Chapter up before my Spring semester starts, but I can't make any promises.**

 **I have missed working on this, but time away was much needed - I came up with some new stuff to incorporate and am relatively pleased with the results so far.**

 **Happy belated holidays, and enjoy Chapter Nine!**

* * *

The trio walked away from the rickety rollercoaster, trying to put the events of the fight behind them. Cassie shuddered. Just because she momentarily conquered her fear of clowns did not mean that she wanted to see them all the time.

"Where to next, Cuphead?" Mugman inquired.

"Let's see..." he began, pulling out the list from his pocket. "It looks like Baroness von Bon Bon."

"Sounds good to me."

Cuphead looked up to the sky, seeing the sun make its descent further into the afternoon. His heart sank slightly. "The fight with Beppi took too long. We're going to have to work faster in order to be done by midnight."

"How about we split up for a little bit? You guys take care of Bon Bon, and I'll go chat with the genie," Cassie offered.

 _And that will give me more time to figure out who or what is behind the grey thing..._

The brothers looked to one another, then back to Cassie. "That's actually a pretty good idea," Mugman stated.

"Are you sure you're okay with that?" Cuphead asked.

"Please. I just beat an insane clown. I'm on Cloud Nine right now," she replied, adding on a smirk.

In reality, she hated the idea. The Isles were still unfamiliar and with her pencil becoming faulty, her confidence was faltering. But the cup was right - they were running out of time.

The older brother shrugged. "If you say so."

Cuphead and Mugman began to walk toward the giant house in the shape of a cupcake. Cassie huffed, feeling alone once again, and put her hands in her pockets.

"I can't keep sugarcoating the truth to them..."

"And risk them tattling on you to the Devil? That doesn't seem like a grand idea either, doll-face."

She jumped at the sound of his voice. "What the hell?! Why do you do that shit?"

Dice placed an arm around her shoulder. "You know, for a lady such as yourself, you should really watch your language."

She sighed in annoyance. "What do you want?"

"Oh, nothing. I was just seeing how your findings were coming for the mysterious grey magic."

"I'm going to see the genie now. Take a chill pill, Dice. We literally just got here," she bitterly replied, removing herself from around his grasp.

"Ah, yes. I saw you fight the nuisance of a clown. That could have gone a little better."

Cassie's eyes widened. "You saw us? I didn't even see _you_."

He placed his hand underneath her chin and brought her gaze to his. She hated when he stared into her eyes. It made her really uncomfortable.

"Let's just say, I have my ways," he vaguely replied. The intonation in his word choice made her skin crawl.

Dice removed his hand and clasped both of his together behind his back. "Now, run along. After all, you have a mystery to solve, eleven more contracts to help obtain... and only eight more hours."

With that unsettling sentence, King Dice vanished into the ground. Cassie exhaled and looked toward the pyramid that stood tall and proud over the Second Isle. Making her way over toward the building, she felt strange. She couldn't shake the feeling that something was off.

The entrance to the pyramid was excessively decorated with many colored jewels imbedded into the rock. Cassie brushed away the cobwebs that were weaved into the entryway. She grimaced at the string-like material that stuck to her fingers like glue, and brushed the webs against her shirt.

She stared down the long, pitch black corridor, the feeling of dread continuing to grow in the pit of her stomach. Ignoring her fears, she shook her head of any thoughts and gulped. Cassie held out her hand and watched as a tiny ball of light formed, floating above her palm. Even though she hated to admit it, she was getting better at the magic Dice gave her. With the little light as a guide, she began to make her way into the pyramid.

Every step she made, her heart began to leap faster. A chill made its way down her spine, causing goosebumps to form. The light above her hand began to flicker faintly, almost like a symbol of how discouraged she was. In the blink of an eye, the light was extinguished, leaving Cassie enveloped in the sea of darkness surrounding her.

"Your magic is okay. Not terrible, but not phenomenal, either. You're going to have to get much better if you want any chance of defeating Dice and the Devil."

Startled at the new voice, Cassie turned in every direction, attempting to gauge where it came from.

"Who said that?" Cassie called out, trying to keep her composure. At this moment, her confidence was sorely lacking.

Suddenly, the area lit up, like a light switch was turned on. Cassie glanced around her, seeing a large vast room. The only thing in the room was a simple golden lamp a few feet in front of her. Floating above the object was a djimmi. He sat in the air like a normal person or toon would in a chair.

"First off," he began, "you can't get startled at every single thing. You're vulnerable then."

He pulled out a pipe and placed it in his mouth. After a moment, he exhaled, the smoke going directly into Cassie's face. She went into a coughing fit and glared at the djimmi.

"Look, I don't want any trouble. I just want your soul contract," she explained in-between hacking.

His began to laugh, clutching his sides to steady himself. The djimmi began to calm down after a little while, wiped a tear from the corner of his eye, and grinned at the girl.

"No."

Cassie pursed her lips tight together and opened her hand up again, letting a larger ball of light emerge. "Do you really want to do this the hard way?"

The djimmi smirked, pinched two of his fingers together, and the light was instantly extinguished. Cassie stared at her hand, aghast. She began to concentrate harder, trying to make another light appear.

"Did you really think that Dice's magic would stand a chance against me? Please. That dumb ability is a parlor trick compared to your pencil."

Cassie lowered her hand. "My... pencil?"

He crossed his arms and cocked his head slightly to the right. "If you want a real fight, bring that out. Only then will I battle for the contract."

She exhaled and pulled out the pencil from her back pocket. The djimmi's cockiness turned into concern at the sight of it.

"Oh gosh... this is worse than I thought."

Cassie furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

The djimmi sighed. "You're around Dice too much. The pencil is supposed to be a much darker color. The more... questionable decisions you make, the more the power will drain."

Cassie scoffed and put her hands on her hips, becoming slightly defensive. "Hey, my decisions may have been 'questionable,' but I wanted to save my own skin, okay?"

He looked at her, his expression was along the lines of apprehension. Cassie looked away from him and stared at the ground. Maybe, her decisions had been weird, but they were the _right_ choices at the time... right? The feeling of uneasiness returned at a greater intensity, causing her to gulp and turn her attention back to the djimmi.

"Look, I don't want to collect your soul contract, but I really don't want to be in Dice or the Devil's grasp either, and I certainly don't want to lose the magic in this pencil," she looked down at the utensil in her hand, sadly watching it become lighter every minute. Comically, a lightbulb appeared above her head, as an idea formed.

"Can I ask a couple questions?"

The djimmi looked at her, slightly puzzled at first, then a grin appeared on his face. "Sure... on one condition."

"Why does everyone want to keep making deals?" she asked in frustration.

"It's nothing bad, I promise."

Cassie pursed her lips together. Was this her third or fourth deal now? Cassie didn't like how she was already losing count of the amount of deals she made.

"...what?"

He smiled at her. "I answer your questions, you leave my soul contract alone."

 _Ah, shit._

She closed her eyes, debating her options. On the one hand, she'd finally have some answers. On the other hand, she'd have to deal with a furious King Dice. After a moment, she opened her eyes, revealing her sapphire irises.

 _To hell with Dice..._

Cassie held out her hand. "Deal."

The djimmi grabbed her extended hand and shook it up and down. Cassie exhaled the breath she did not realize she was holding. Out of all the deals she had made, this one was the least soul crushing.

"What is the deal with the grey magic?" she asked as she released her hand. "It's engulfing everything, and I'm afraid that we won't get to the Devil or Dice in time before it gets to us."

The djimmi put a hand to his chin in thought, pondering an appropriate response. "I'm honestly not sure."

Cassie rolled her eyes. _Figures. Nobody has answers to anything around here._

"I'm assuming it probably has something to do with you."

Cassie scoffed. "Why do you say that?"

He crossed his arms and his legs. "Oh, I dunno. This wacky magic hasn't started to happen until you arrived," he sarcastically replied.

"Fine. You're probably right. But... you don't really know why it's happening?"

"The only thing I can think of is that it might be caused by a toon who possesses magic around here. I know Grimm has been dabbling in a spell or two."

 _Why is that name familiar... oh! The dragon!_

Her excitement quickly turned into annoyance. She'd have to face a dragon - whether it was friendly or not, it would probably want to turn her into a shish-kabob nonetheless.

"Anything else?"

His question snapped her away from her thoughts. "There's actually one more thing."

She tightened the grip on her pencil. "You said that the more 'questionable' decisions I make, the more this power drains. Is there any way I can reverse what is happening?"

"Well, you can start by not making stupid decisions."

Cassie angrily huffed and gave him a pleading gaze. "Please. No more sarcasm. Help me."

He looked back at her. In a way, he did feel sympathy for her. Even though she was on both the cups' and Dice's sides, she clearly did not want to be associated with the latter. The hole she was trying to get out of seemed to only get deeper and deeper. She was clearly sinking; drowning in the problems that kept piling up.

The djimmi quickly glanced around the room, looking for any presence of Dice or the Devil. He exhaled in relief to find they were nowhere to be seen.

"There is a way."

Her eyes lit up. " _How?_ "

"Well, have you considered finding who created the pencil?"

Cassie immediately felt really idiotic, and slapped her forehead. She remembered momentarily wondering who sent her the pencil when she first received it, but never really dwelled on it again.

"Yes... I have thought about it," she replied. "Would you happen to know who the creator would be?"

The djimmi nervously chuckled. "Well, you see, uhh... no. I don't."

"Dammit! I thought you would help me!"

Cassie's squeezed her eyes shut as a throbbing pain came into her head. Her mind became foggy, all her thoughts being drowned out as something, or someone, invisible seemingly whispered into her ear.

 _ **He didn't give you anything; only straws to grasp at. The deal should be off. This joker should have his contract taken anyway.**_

The pain momentarily stopped and the voice left as soon as it came. Cassie stared blankly at the ground, breathing heavily.

She didn't know why, but she suddenly felt afraid.

 _That voice... that sounded an awful lot like-_

Her thoughts were cut off as the pain returned at a higher intensity. Cassie fell to the ground and clutched her head. All she felt was pain... numb, numb pain everywhere. Quickly, the djimmi floated to her.

"Cassie? Are you-"

She looked up at him, only her eyes were not blue like before.

They were green.

The djimmi immediately backed away. "Dice! I know you are behind this! Where the hell are you?"

"Well, well. Being in that lamp for a long time must have sharpened you up, genie."

The unwelcoming lanky figured emerged from the shadows. The djimmi glared at him.

"How long were you there?"

"Long enough."

Dice started to move forward. "Don't you know by now that I have eyes and ears everywhere?"

"Look, leave her out of this. She has no need to be part of... whatever you're planning."

"Actually, she's one of the most crucial elements."

The djimmi's pupils shrank and he cracked an anxious smile. "You're after her pencil. I should have known... It chose her, Dice. Not you. Get over it."

Dice was silent. The only thing he did was stare back at the djimmi. His emerald eyes seemed as if it could pierce through any soul. But the red being floated high, furious and determined.

"Whatever fight you want, is between you and me."

"We'll see about that," Dice chucked. He snapped his fingers. "Get the contract."

Immediately, Cassie lunged for the djimmi, who floated out of the way. She speedily drew stairs to catch up to him and jumped on his shoulders, reached into his shawl, and began to grab for the parchment. The djimmi quickly flung her off of him, wincing as she hit the ground below.

"Please, Cassie. I don't want to hurt you. You're under Dice's control! I know you don't want this! You can beat him!"

Dice made a "click" sound with his tongue and teeth. "See, that won't be as easy as you think. She hates to admit it, but since I gave her some powers, she put a teeny tiny amount of trust in me."

The djimmi shot the Devil's-right-hand-man a look that could kill. "So, that was all a ruse? You didn't give her that ability to protect herself; you used it to exploit her trust! You wanted a way to lower her guard slightly, so you could control her?!"

Dice only smirked. The djimmi noticed a shadow come over him, as Cassie leapt down on him from higher up. The action sent her and the djimmi careening toward the pyramid floor. The impact was painful. He had landed flat on his back and Cassie was on top of him. She opened her palm, forming a powerful light ball. In defense, he puffed some smoke in her face, causing her to cough and hack. While she was momentarily distracted, he spun his arm back and punched her in the stomach, watching as she flew across the room.

Her back hit the bricks - hard. She shut her eyes, her thoughts slowly coming back to her. Cassie stared at the djimmi, him slightly exhaling as he saw her eyes were blue. Dice frowned.

 _W-what is... happening?_

Her mind became fuzzy again, and she gritted her teeth. The djimmi stood up slowly, groaning in pain from the previous attack. He took a fighting stance, anticipating the battle that would shortly be coming. Dice turned his head toward the entrance and his smile grew wide at the sight.

"It appears that the grey magic is here, making it my cue to leave. I'd suggest you finish this battle _before_ you are consumed by this magic."

In a typical fashion, he descended into the ground, departing the area as if he was never there. Simply leaving behind uneasiness and anxiety in his wake. Cassie started to run toward the djimmi as he pulled out a chest, many jewels, rings, and other treasures appearing. Like a ninja, she dodged the obstacles being thrown at her. She held out the palm of her hand once more and quickly threw a ball of light at him. The djimmi caught it, the force sending him back. He turned his head and his eyes widened as the inertia pushed him toward the grey substance. He tried to move out of the way...

But it was too late.

His feet became stuck in the substance like tar. The djimmi attempted to raise his feet to no avail. The greyness kept climbing. He threw the light ball in his hands toward Cassie, which pushed her backward. Her slightly disoriented gave him more time to figure out how to get out of this mess. He blasted the most powerful magic he had toward the substance, which had creeped quickly up to his knees.

His stomach tied in knots as he saw it did _nothing_.

The djimmi glanced up to see Cassie sprinting toward him. He stood shocked as she grabbed his shawl, practically ripping it off. The soul contract was within her grasp. He grabbed her wrists, her crying out in pain and struggling against his strength.

"Cassie! You don't have to do this! I know you can fight Dice's orders! _Please_! You are better than this!"

For a moment she stopped squirming. Cassie calmed down... she blinked a few times, and the djimmi watched her eyes morph back to their original color.

"W-what?" she stammered. The djimmi released his grip. She seemed out of it, but at least she was normal.

He smiled. "I knew you could do it."

Unexpectedly, she blinked again, and her eyes changed to green once more. Cassie quickly reached into the shawl and pulled out the contract.

"No!-"

The djimmi has reached for her, and before he could do anything else, the grey had completely covered him, almost as if he were a statue. Cassie immediately fell backward, Dice's hold on her releasing, leaving her with a killer migraine. She held her head.

 _Damn... my head... it's so foggy... the last thing I remember is yelling at the djimmi..._

She felt a piece of paper in her hand. Confused, she opened her eyes slightly, staring at the black letters that read "Soul Contract."

Cassie immediately sat up, and gasped at the sight before her. There stood the toon, reaching hopelessly toward her. She quickly stood, letting the parchment slip from her fingers and fall to the floor.

 _I... I did this... oh god... I did this... why don't I remember this?!..._

She panicked as she noticed the grey make its way over toward her. Since it was coming from the entrance, there was no escape. With no other options, Cassie pulled out her pencil to find it an even lighter color than before. With tears prickling her eyes, she drew an entryway to the Second Isle and ran in the direction of the cupcake, not even looking back.

Just as the magic covered the room and began to move toward the contract, a single hand reached up, grabbed the paper, and pulled it down into the earth.

* * *

 **Thank you guys for being so patient. It may be a while before I update regularly again, since my upcoming semester will also be busy. I appreciate all of you. Until next time!**

 **-TheLexTurtle**


	10. Chapter 10

**Heya, guys! I sincerely apologize for how long this took. I got my very first puppy in January and with some other pretty big life events happening as my college years are starting to close, I did NOT get many opportunities to write.**

 **I originally had a vague idea of how I wanted the remainder of this story to play out, and I finally wrote out the big plot points for the remaining Chapters. It may change in the meantime though as I think of other ideas (I tend to change those around a lot).**

 **After this Chapter, things are going to change up a little bit from the typical "fight a debtor, get a contract" schtick. Since Isle Three has the most bosses, I had a feeling that was going to be monotonous for me to write, as well as for you to read.**

 **I seem to ramble so much before each posting. Enjoy Chapter Ten (Wow! Double digits)!**

* * *

 _Forty minutes prior..._

"How about we split up for a little bit? You guys take care of Bon Bon, and I'll go chat with the genie," Cassie suggested.

Cuphead and Mugman turned to each other, nervousness apparent in both of their eyes. Before Cuphead could say anything, Mugman looked to Cassie.

"That's actually a pretty good idea."

"Are you sure you're okay with that?" Cuphead asked her.

"Please. I just beat an insane clown. I'm on Cloud Nine right now," she replied with a smirk.

Cuphead looked at her, slightly quirking an eyebrow. She seemed more anxious than normal; that smile she wore was completely fake. Not really in the mood to bicker with her _again_ , he shrugged his shoulders. "If you say so."

The brothers turned away and began to make their way toward the home of the Baroness. Cuphead glanced once more back at Cassie, who was looking at the ground with her hands in her pockets. She looked concerned, which made him edgy.

"Cuphead? You okay?"

His gaze turned from Cassie to Mugman; if he had looked at her for three more seconds, he would have seen Dice with her.

"Hm? Yeah. I'm fine. Why?"

"You just seem pensive."

Cuphead was silent for a moment, trying to formulate the words he wanted to say. "I dunno. Cassie's acting a little strange."

Mugman was confused by his brother's statement. "In what way?"

He sighed in slight aggravation. "She just... seems off. I don't really know how to explain it."

"I think she's probably fine; mostly just nervous. Heck, we're both scared from trying to collect these soul contracts!"

Cuphead smiled at his younger sibling, his anxiety diminishing a little bit. He shoved his fears to the side.

"You're probably right. C'mon. Let's go chat with Bon Bon."

Mugman scoffed. "I don't think 'chat' is the right word. More like, 'take her contract and leave her sad.'"

"Whatever. Let's just get this over with."

The short walk to the cupcake felt like hours. The divine-looking house ironically seemed very uninviting the closer they got to it. Cuphead slowly ambulated toward the front door and knocked.

Silence.

After a moment, Cuphead knocked again, the feeling of trepidation washing over him. Still nothing.

"Well, she's not home. Oh well."

Cuphead quickly spun around, only to be met by an irritated Mugman.

"Cuphead-"

He was cut off by a "click," then the sound of someone opening of the door. They both turned their attention to the house. What greeted them was a lady in a dress, the top half candy-cane striped, and the pink skirt in the shape of a three-tiered cake. She held a tray of cookies in her one hand, the doorknob in the other.

Cuphead felt the flush come to his cheeks.

"What can I do for you boys?"

The words escaped the older brother. He was worried that if he started talking, it would either be gibberish or he would stammer idiotically.

 _She's so pretty..._

Mugman noticed Cuphead gawking at her, to which he rolled his eyes.

"Miss Baroness," the younger brother stated, "we are here for a rather important matter."

Bon Bon cocked her head slightly to the side. "Oh? What matter is that?"

Before Mugman could speak again, Cuphead interrupted, slapping a hand to his brother's mouth. "We just... uhh... wanted to try some of your sweets!"

The Baroness raised a confused eyebrow at the cup, then turned her attention to the treats that were slightly falling off the tray. Annoyed, Mugman pulled Cuphead's hand away from his face and angrily whispered at him while she was attempting to regain her balance.

" _What are you doing?!_ "

Cuphead shrugged. "What?"

"Have you forgotten what we are here for? We are _**not**_ here for you to flirt with the Baroness!"

"Well, I think it's a heck of a lot better than saying we are here for her contract! Besides, this makes for a good diversion. We'll have some food, then steal the contract when she isn't looking."

Mugman opened his mouth, then clamped it shut, as his stomach released a large growl. He realized it had been a while since he had actually eaten.

"Fine. We're here for 'treats,'" Mugman stated, adding air quotes to emphasize the word "treats."

"Yes. _Aaaaaand_ maybe a little flirting."

"No!"

Cuphead spun around. "So, madame, whaddya say?"

The Baroness smiled and put a free hand against her cheek. "My, my. Elder Kettle has raised some fine gentlemen. Come on in, you two."

She pushed the door further open with her hip, allowing the brothers more access into her home. This made the sweet aromas escape from the house and fill the air. Both of their stomachs made incredibly loud noises and their mouths watered. Food just sounded _really_ good.

The two ambled into the cupcake house and found themselves in a gigantic room; it was a lot bigger than it appeared on the outside. Everything was some hue of pink. Cuphead gulped and looked down at his red shorts. He felt like he practically blended in with the environment. Mugman felt that he stuck out like a sore thumb with his navy blue pants.

In front of them was a long, wooden table filled to the brim with sweets. Cupcakes, pies, cakes, donuts... the two brothers felt like they died and went to heaven. Everything looked and smelled absolutely divine.

"Take a seat, gentlemen."

Cuphead nodded giddily. "With pleasure."

The Baroness took her seat at the end of the table. Cuphead sat to her right, Mugman to her left. She clasped her hands together.

"What brings you boys to this area of the Isles? I don't see you two very often."

Mugman glanced over at his sibling, letting him take the lead on this one. If he didn't want to tell her why they were really here, then so be it. He would be the one digging them out of the hole they would inevitably get themselves in.

"Like I said, lady. We wanted to try your sweets."

"...is that all?"

Cuphead winked at her. "I also wanted to see if the Baroness was as beautiful as everyone says."

Bon Bon chuckled at his comment. Mugman facepalmed so hard, he could have smacked himself into the air. _Oh brother..._

She snapped her fingers and a walking gum-ball machine made its way over to Bon Bon. It bowed to her.

"What would you require, Baroness?"

"These two boys would like some sweets. Give them a little bit of _everything_."

The siblings watched a giant pile of waffles be placed in front of them. Cuphead immediately jumped right in and scarfed the food down. Mugman stared at his plate, then turned his attention to the Baroness. She gave him a small smile.

"Is everything alright?"

 _Something is fishy... I can't quite shake this feeling..._

"Y-yes, Miss. Everything is fine."

She quirked an eyebrow at him. "You haven't touched any of your food."

The pile of waffles were pulled away and replaced with a pyramid of chocolate cupcakes with strawberry icing. Cuphead's eyes became the size of dinner plates at the sight.

"I'm not too hungry."

"Come _on_ , Mugman," Cuphead interjected. "This is so good, I can't stop eating. You have to try some."

"Yes, Mugman. _Try some,_ " Bon Bon emphasized.

Mugman's stomach twisted into knots and he stood from his chair. He held his hand behind his back, getting his finger gun ready. "I... don't think that I do."

She scowled at him. The pile of cupcakes were replaced with creme-filled donuts. Cuphead began munching away. Mugman looked at his sibling.

"Cuphead, stop eating that stuff!"

"Oh, he can't, dearie," she began. Mugman turned his attention to the Baroness.

"Then make him stop!"

"Why would I? You two are after mine and my friends' soul contracts."

His eyes widened in surprise. "You... you knew."

She shrugged. "Well, word travels fast. My hope was that both of you would eat my delicious food, which would buy your time until midnight. I would keep my soul contract, you would lose your souls."

In a fit of fury, Mugman lunged at the Baroness. She pulled out a large candy-cane striped staff and hit the mug like he was a golf ball. He flew into the air and hit the ceiling, causing cracks to form in both his head and the material above him. Mugman groaned at the impact, then fell to the floor.

The pink walls and ceiling suddenly started to cascade to the sides, revealing a hidden land. With blurry vision and stars around his head, Mugman slowly stood and glanced around. The table was still there, as was his at the moment useless brother, still eating. The sky was a shade of pink, striped and dotted hills were visible in the distance. Before him stood a massive pink castle. He gulped, feeling its giant, angry eyes stare into his soul. He felt completely minuscule compared to the structure.

The Baroness smiled wide at him. The grin made Mugman's skin crawl and sent chills down his spine. In that moment, he realized that he would have to do this fight - alone.

And that absolutely petrified him.

"Well, well. It looks like the timid little brother is going to have to face me."

The mug was frozen with fear, his pupils tiny at the sight of the Baroness. He breathing was shaky and uneven, making him slightly lightheaded. Mugman suddenly became very angry at his brother and took a glance to the cup, who was nonstop eating, almost as if he was in a trance.

 _Dammit, Cuphead. You got us into this whole mess. You should be the one that gets us out of it._

He sighed, realizing that frustrated thoughts wouldn't get him anywhere. Sure, he was upset about him getting caught in so much trouble... but Cuphead was his brother.

And brothers are supposed to get each other out of trouble.

Finding a slight newfound courage, Mugman took a deep breath in and out. He glared at the Baroness and got his finger gun ready.

"Yes, Bon Bon. It's just you and me."

Without a word, she made a finger gesture toward her neck, as if she was cutting off her own head. To Mugman's surprise, her head actually did pop off. It flipped in the air a few times before landing back in place on her neck. Out of the entryway of the castle, a long Shepard's crook placed itself around Bon Bon's neck and pulled her quickly away. Mugman grabbed the straw from his head and took a few quick gulps. If it was a fight she wanted, it was a fight she was going to get.

The first thing that emerged from the castle was a large candy corn. It gnashed its pointed, straight teeth together, causing Mugman to gulp. This fight was already a little daunting.

The striped candy floated its way over to the younger brother. Mugman jumped above the candy corn and landed badly on his knees. He winced at the impact and stood quickly, feeling a little bit of his ink bleed out.

 _Great_.

He looked upward to see the candy corn hovering above. Then, it made its descent toward the mug. He rolled out of the way as the enemy landed back on the ground, then watched as it went in the other direction, heading away from him. It was then that a thought suddenly clicked in Mugman's head as he continued to watch the actions of the candy corn.

 _It didn't head for me after it landed on the ground... It's floating around the same areas it was previously... Could it be going in a pattern?_

Mugman pointed his finger gun at the candy and began to fire. The piece of candy corn glared at Mugman, then started to spit out miniature flying versions of himself. The mug continuously fired his weapon, then smirked as he saw smoke appear from the enemy. Its eyes became crossed and its teeth became unaligned as it floated high, high into the air.

Bon Bon was not pleased. She stuck her head out of the castle.

"QUIT!" she hollered, then quickly stuck her head back inside.

Mugman readied his stance as the second enemy emerged. It was a flying... waffle? He shook his head. These enemies were getting weirder and weirder.

It flew in constant circles around the arena, grinning menacingly at Mugman. He sighed sadly. He would never be able to eat a waffle happily ever again without thinking of today.

After a moment of shooting and dodging the waffle, the piece of breakfast food compressed against itself. Mugman walked a little closer, wondering what was happening.

 _Did I... beat it?_

Mugman didn't jump out of the way in time as tiny, square pieces of the waffle shot themselves outward. A piece of the food hit Mugman square in the face, the inertia pushing him backward. He hit his head on the ground. Mugman groaned as he heard the tiniest crack in his head, then saw many multicolored stars as they spun around his head. He narrowed his eyes and stared at the waffle. This was getting annoying.

Slightly disoriented and dizzy, he stood again and shot the waffle moving around in the air. Mugman blinked to clear his blurry vision. He noticed the waffle compress itself once more and he rolled out of the way of incoming waffle bits. While Mugman knelt on the ground, he shot again at the food, watching with satisfaction as the waffle broke apart, and like the candy corn, floated upward.

The castle opened once again, revealing a furious Bon Bon. Mugman's fear was diminishing, instead being replaced with confidence. They shot each other glares from across the way.

Cuphead was... still eating.

Bon Bon huffed, stomped her foot in a fury, and quickly vanished from view. A third enemy suddenly appeared; it was the same gumball machine from earlier. He approached Mugman in a very unbalanced fashion. Mugman noted that the machine's feet were very large and that he could likely trip himself at any point. With that in mind, he began to fire his finger gun again, but toward the enemy's legs.

The machine opened the top of his head, allowing many colorful gumballs to rain down. Mugman danced around the area, avoiding getting hit by the objects, as well as possibly slipping on the gumballs that landed on the ground.

 _Oh... I wish Cassie were here... she could use that pencil to draw us out of this mess!_

Mugman felt himself pushed abruptly to the ground, slipping on a few gumballs on the way. While on his hands and knees, he looked up to see none other than his brother, firing at the enemy... while also eating the gumballs that fell.

"Cuphead!-"

Mugman's ears lifted at the sound of a "click" from above. He looked toward the direction of the sound to see Bon Bon on the top of the castle, pointing the barrel of a striped candy-cane gun toward Cuphead. She fired, sending out clouds of red, yellow, and blue candy powder. Mugman ran toward his brother, pushing him headfirst into the table of food, where he laid facedown, seemingly unconscious.

He looked up at Bon Bon and saw the taunting, menacing grin she wore. She pulled on the spires of the castle beside her. The castle itself opened its eyes and let out a massive roar. Bon Bon glowered and pointed at the mug. In that moment, Mugman felt a little small. However, he took a deep breath and regained his composure.

 _I may be smaller, and this may be difficult... but I'm like a mosquito. Tiny, annoying, and persistent!_

He jumped a little as the castle began to crawl toward him. Mugman started to run in the opposite direction, attempting to gain as much distance as possible while he fired. The castle opened its mouth and released a peppermint twice the size of Mugman. He quickly jumped over the candy and began to constantly parry it, afraid of being crushed by the deadly snack.

As he was in the air, he looked up to see Bon Bon throw off her... head?! Mugman jumped off the peppermint in hopes that the head would crash into the candy rolling away. He was surprised, and slightly mortified, to find that it followed his every move instead, stopping every once in a while at where he previously stood.

Meaning he would have to dance around the entire stage.

Perfect.

After a moment, the head had flown away, causing Mugman to look up at Bon Bon once again. Another head was in place, and she appeared to be performing the same set of attacks.

 _Not again!..._

With a loud roar, Mugman ceaselessly fired his finger gun at her. Her pupils shrank at the onset of blue bullets. She screamed aloud and held up her hands in defense, but the force was too much. The bullets pushed her to the other side of the castle...

...and off the edge.

The castle closed its eyes and became motionless as the Baroness fell about ten feet. Her scream could be heard as she fell... as well as the crunch of her leg on the impact of the ground. Mugman winced, but at least she turned out okay. Instantly, he felt pretty bad and started to head over to her-

 ***Cough! Cough! Cough! HACK!***

Mugman turned around to see his brother standing up, scraping his tongue with his gloved hands. The delicacies that had sat on the table were slowly turning to dust, laying in sad piles. Cuphead continued to spit out the dust that had settled in his mouth.

"That was the GROSSEST thing I have ever tasted!"

Cuphead looked at his brother to see him staring at him, arms crossed over his chest. The eldest sibling sighed.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay? I'm always getting us into all kinds of trouble-"

Mugman interrupted by placing his hand in front of Cuphead, stopping the cup's train of thought. The mug sighed.

"Yes. You do get us into loads of trouble," Mugman began. Cuphead rolled his eyes. "but you helped me out greatly back there."

Not expecting that response, Cuphead glanced back. "Really?"

Mugman nodded. "When the gumball machine came out, you shoved me out of the way in the nick of time! How did you do that? You were practically glued to the food!"

Cuphead shrugged. "I dunno, I guess... part of me knew you were in danger and I had to help you."

Mugman smiled at his response.

"...but I also couldn't stop eating. The food was SO good!"

Both siblings had a slight chuckle, until they heard a small cry of pain. They saw Bon Bon, still on the ground, clutching her leg. Cuphead instantly ran over to her, knelt on his knees, and held her in his arms.

"Are you alright?"

She blinked a few times, then wiped away a trickle of tears. "I'm okay," she began as she tried to readjust her body. "I just, ahhh!"

Bon Bon clutched her leg as pain that felt like she was struck by lighting shot upward. Mugman gulped in embarrassment and shame.

"Miss Baroness, I'm so sorry."

"No, Mugman. I am," she stated, fresh tears in her eyes. "I was so focused on saving my own skin that I hadn't even considered helping you two in the slightest."

A moment of silence filled the room before she began to speak again, hesitation and fear in her tone.

"W-would you ever forgive me? I can't bear to be an enemy of someone else in the Isles," she asked, turning her sad gaze toward the ground.

Cuphead and Mugman looked at one another, then back to the Baroness. Cuphead gingerly placed the palm of his hand on her cheek, turning her gaze back to meet his. "We're revolting against the Devil. You should join us. Then, you won't have any enemies anymore."

Her golden eyes widened in shock, then softened as a smile formed on her face. She placed her hand on top of Cuphead's, causing his heart to beat a little faster and the flush of warmth come to his face.

"Okay," she responded.

The moment was ruined as soon as someone barged into the cupcake.

Cuphead let out a small groan and faced the entryway, his expression turning from annoyance to surprise as everyone saw Cassie. Her caramel hair was unkempt and her shirt was slightly torn. She looked distraught and scared.

"Cassie? What's wrong-"

She shook her head. "There's no time to explain. We have to get to the next Isle now," Cassie glanced at Bon Bon. "Did you get her contract?"

Cuphead looked back at Bon Bon as she remorsefully pulled out the crinkled, worn piece of parchment and handed it to the cup. He looked down for a moment at the paper and pushed it back to the Baroness. Cassie and Mugman stared at him slightly in confusion.

"Cuphead?" Cassie asked. "What are you-?"

"If we're fighting against the Devil, we can't let him win anymore. She's keeping the contract."

Mugman looked at his brother, slightly impressed. It seemed his brother was maturing a little after all... even if this action would possibly get them killed.

The cupcake began to crumble slightly as the grey material slowly began to enter. In one swift motion, Cuphead lifted up the Baroness in his arms and held her bridal style.

"There's an exit! Out the back! There is a green hill with a doorknob on it!" Bon Bon explained.

Three sets of legs began to sprint through the larger-on-the-inside cupcake. Once they made it to the door, Cassie immediately swung it open, allowed everyone through, and shut it tight, shoving her entire body weight on the door. Upon inspection, they were back outside the Isle. From their location, Cassie could see a birdhouse, as well as a tall tower with a dragon's tail hanging out.

"The remainder of residents on this Isle can fly, correct?" Cassie asked, trying to remember specific details from the book.

Mugman looked at her. "Yeah? What's your point?"

"Forget about the rest of the contracts. Cuphead's right. If we are to save the rest of the Isles, we can't keep doing this," Cassie explained. "I want to take a risk."

"...what risk?" Cuphead and Mugman asked at the same time.

Cassie exhaled and closed her eyes, attempting to piece together the plan she was quickly scrambling to make. Once she opened them again, she quietly stared at the brothers.

"I want to use them to fly over to the next Isle."

* * *

 **Yaaay! A fighting sequence with Mugman! I'm so happy I was able to write him fighting this scene (out of the two brothers, he's my favorite)!**

 **Again, I apologize severely for how long this took, considering this is the first Chapter I published all year. I'll try to be more on top of writing, but we'll see how the rest of the year goes. Thank you all sooo incredibly much for being patient. Until next time!**

 **-TheLexTurtle**


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